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 drai ...

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 are ...

in the

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. Via the York River it is part of the

watershed Watershed is a hydrological term, which has been adopted in other fields in a more or less figurative sense. It may refer to: Hydrology * Drainage divide, the line that separates neighbouring drainage basins * Drainage basin, called a "watershe ...

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 Caroline may refer to: People *Caroline (given name), a feminine given name * J. C. Caroline (born 1933), American college and National Football League player * Jordan Caroline (born 1996), American (men's) basketball player Places Antarctica * ...

counties, about northeast of the town of Ashland. It flows generally southeastwardly past the Pamunkey Indian Reservation to the town of West Point, 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 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
*

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(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