The Pamunkey River is a

tributary A tributary, or affluent, is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream or 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 drain the surrounding drainage ...

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 state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. 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 region and is primarily separated from the Atlantic Ocean by the Delmarva Peninsula (including the parts: the Eastern Shore of Maryland / ...

Course

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

Hanover Hanover (; german: Hannover ; nds, Hannober) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Lower Saxony. Its 535,932 (2021) inhabitants make it the 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-largest city in Northern Germany ...

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 located in King William, Virginia, United States. This reservation lies along the Pamunkey River in King William County, Virginia on the Middle Peninsula ...

to the town of

West Point The United States Military Academy (USMA), also known Metonymy, metonymically as West Point or simply as Army, is a United States service academies, United States service academy in West Point, New York. It was originally established as a f ...

, where it meets the

Mattaponi River The Mattaponi River is a tributary of the York River estuary in eastern Virginia in the United States. History Historically, the Mattaponi River has been known by a variety of names and alternate spellings, including ''Mat-ta-pa-ment'', Matapa ...

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 The United States Board on Geographic Names (BGN) is a federal body operating under the United States Secretary of the Interior. The purpose of the board is to establish and maintain uniform usage of geographic names throughout the federal govern ...

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 locative information about more than two million physical and cultural features throughout the United States and its territories, Antarctica, and the associated states of ...

, 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 is the 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 receive text messages ...

(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