Rekowo, Bytów County

Rekowo is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Bytów, within Bytów County, Pomeranian Voivodeship, in northern Poland.

Etymology

The name of the village comes either from the word reki or from the male name Rak. It was mentioned as Rekow in 1437, Rakowo in 1598 and Rekowo in 1686.

History

The village dates back to the 14th century. Until the early 17th century, it was a possession of local Kashubian nobility. In 1615, Francis, Duke of Pomerania, granted the Styp, Wrycza, Wantoch, and Mrożek families 30 lans of land and allowed free fishing in exchange for services in construction, military service, and the payment of certain taxes. In 1873, a Catholic school was established. In the interwar period, the village was a regional center of Polish political activism. To commemorate the local struggle to preserve Polish identity against Prussian-enforced Germanisation, a memorial was erected with the inscription Nie rzucim ziemi, skąd nasz ród.