Place · river

Potomac River

The Potomac River flows about 650 kilometres from the Appalachian Mountains to Chesapeake Bay, forming much of the border between Maryland and Virginia. Its lower course was home to Algonquian peoples within the Powhatan Confederacy and beyond, and it became a key route for colonial tobacco planters. Washington, D.C. was founded on its banks in 1790.

Potomac River
Image: US National Park Service · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons

Mentioned in 3 state histories

SusquehannockPowhatan ConfederacyProvince of Maryland

See also

Cite this entry
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). Potomac River. In The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/potomac-river
MLA
“Potomac River.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/potomac-river. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “Potomac River.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/potomac-river.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Potomac River’, The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/potomac-river (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random entry ↻