USS Powhatan
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USS Powhatan (NCC-71604) is a Cheyenne-class Federation starship currently assigned to Fourth Fleet's Task Force 47.
Name History and Information
The name "Powhatan" (also transcribed by Strachey as Paqwachowng), also spelled Powatan, is the name of the Native American village or town of Wahunsenacawh. The title Chief or King Powhatan, used by English colonists, is believed to have been derived from the name of this site. Although the specific site of his home village is unknown, in modern times the Powhatan Hill neighborhood in the East End portion of the modern-day city of Richmond, Virginia is thought by many to be in the general vicinity of the original village. Tree Hill Farm in Henrico County is also a possible site.
"Powhatan" was also the name used by the Natives to refer to the river where the town sat at the head of navigation. The English colonists chose to name it after their leader, King James I. The English colonists named many features in the early years of the Virginia Colony in honor of the king, as well as for his three children, Elizabeth, Henry, and Charles.
Although portions of Virginia's longest river upstream from Columbia were much later named for Queen Anne of Great Britain, in modern times, it is called the James River. It forms at the confluence of the Jackson and Cowpasture Rivers near the present-day town of Clifton Forge, flowing east to Hampton Roads. (The Rivanna River, a tributary of the James River, and Fluvanna County, were named after Queen Anne). The only water body in Virginia to retain a name related to the Powhatan people is Powhatan Creek, located in James City County near Williamsburg.
Powhatan County and its county seat at Powhatan, Virginia were honorific names established years later, in locations west of the area populated by the Powhatan peoples. The county was formed in March 1777.