Powhite Creek

Powhite Creek is an 8.0-mile-long (12.9 km) stream rising near the unincorporated community of Bon Air in Chesterfield County and flowing into the independent city of Richmond in central Virginia. The creek empties into the James River in the region of the fall line, where the rapids of the James are located upstream from the head of navigation.

Boy fishing in Powhite Creek, 1969, Bon Air, VA

The name is usually pronounced "POW-hite,"^{[citation needed]} in the same manner as you pronounce "Powhatan" and "Powder", although it is alternatively pronounced "Po-white." References to Powhite Creek are included in the Vestry Book of Henrico Parish, Virginia, 1730-1773, and in Chesterfield County records of the latter time period. It is mentioned in land records as early as 1687, according to research on the Bratcher family (Margaret Bradshaw). The creek was (probably) named by Native Americans who were in the area long before settlers arrived in the Virginia Colony in the early 17th century.

The nearby Powhite Parkway of the Richmond Metropolitan Authority (RMA) was named for the creek. The toll road (Virginia State Route 76) crosses over the creek and under the Norfolk Southern Railway near the former unincorporated town of Granite. About a mile north, the toll road crosses the river on a bridge just downstream from the mouth of the creek.

There is also a Powhite Creek in Hanover County, Virginia. It was the site of the Battle of Gaines' Mill during the American Civil War.