History
Originally settled by French Huguenots in the early 1700's, Powhatan County was created by The Virginia General Assembly in 1777. The County was named in honor of the Indian Chief Powhatan, father of Pocahontas. The original courthouse was constructed in 1778 and the immediate area was named Scottville after General Charles Scott, a revolutionary war hero. In 1850 a small portion of Chesterfield County was annexed, creating the current boundaries of Powhatan County .

Location
Located in Virginia's Central Piedmont between the Appomattox and James rivers, Powhatan is twenty miles west of Richmond, the Commonwealth's capitol city, and is within an easy two-hour drive from the Atlantic Ocean, Washington, D.C., Colonial Williamsburg, and the Blue Ridge Mountains.

Size
The county consists of 272 square miles (174,800 acres) and has a population of 22,372 (per the 2000 census), a 45% increase from the 1990 population of 15,328. Powhatan ranks as the fifth fastest growing locality in Virginia .