North Salem was part of the tribal land of a Wappinger Indian band known as the Kitawonks (or Kitchawanks), who laid claim to all the lands bordering the Kitchewan or Croton River that separates North Salem from present-day Somers. The name of Peach Lake was unusual as there were no peach orchards in the surrounding area. During 1600 and 1700s the lake was called Lake Pehquenakonck. Dutch documents, such as Van der Donck’s 1656 "History of New Netherland", mention the area. Other maps from Dutch archives, circa 1685, show the "Indian Tribes of the New World" and locations of Indian villages, include Lake Pehquenakonck. The area was later named as Peach Pond, derived from the Indian word Pech-Quen. By the mid-1800s, the name was changed again to Peach Lake. The local elementary school is called Pequenakonck (pronounced pee-kwon-a-konk), and the Country Club at Bloomerside Cooperative is called Pehquenakonck Country Club.