The Pamunkey River is a

tributary A tributary, or an ''affluent'', is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream (''main stem'' or ''"parent"''), river, or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries, and the main stem river into which they ...

of the York River, about long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data
The National Map
, accessed April 1, 2011 in eastern

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. Via the York River it is part of the watershed of

Chesapeake Bay The Chesapeake Bay ( ) is the largest estuary in the United States. The bay is located in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region and is primarily separated from the Atlantic Ocean by the Delmarva Peninsula, including parts of the Ea ...

Course

The Pamunkey River is formed by the confluence of the North Anna and South Anna rivers on the boundary of

Hanover Hanover ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the States of Germany, German state of Lower Saxony. Its population of 535,932 (2021) makes it the List of cities in Germany by population, 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-l ...

and Caroline counties, about northeast of the town of Ashland. It flows generally southeastwardly past the

Pamunkey Indian Reservation The Pamunkey Indian Reservation is a Native American reservation of the Pamunkey Indian Tribe in King William, Virginia, United States. It lies along the Pamunkey River in King William County, Virginia on the Middle Peninsula. It contains ap ...

to the town of

West Point The United States Military Academy (USMA), commonly known as West Point, is a United States service academies, United States service academy in West Point, New York that educates cadets for service as Officer_(armed_forces)#United_States, comm ...

, where it meets the Mattaponi River to form the York River. The river's course is used to define all or portions of the southern boundaries of Caroline and King William counties and the northern boundaries of Hanover and New Kent counties.

Variant names

The U.S. Board on Geographic Names settled on "Pamunkey River" as the river's official name in 1892. According to the

Geographic Names Information System The Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) is a database of name and location information about more than two million physical and cultural features, encompassing the United States and its territories; the Compact of Free Association, asso ...

, it has also been known as: *Pamauncke River *Pamoeoncock River *Pamunky River *Pemaeoncock *Yough-ta-mund *Youghtanund

References

Columbia Gazetteer of North America entry
*

DeLorme DeLorme Publishing Company is a producer of personal satellite tracking, messaging, and navigation technology. The company's main product, ''inReach'', integrates GPS and satellite technologies. ''inReach'' provides the ability to send and rec ...

(2005). ''Virginia Atlas & Gazetteer''. Yarmouth, Maine: DeLorme. . Rivers of Virginia Tributaries of the York River (Virginia) Rivers of Caroline County, Virginia Rivers of Hanover County, Virginia Rivers of King William County, Virginia Rivers of New Kent County, Virginia Greater Richmond Region {{NewKentCountyVA-geo-stub

Course

Variant names

See also

References