The first record of a white man being in the area known as Powhatan County was in 1608. A band of approximately 120 men led by Christopher Newport made an expedition up the James River to a point as far west as Maidens Bridge. They were forced to turn back because of hostile Monacan Indians who occupied the area at the time. Very little is known about the Monacan Indians. They had an open settlement of huts up and down the riverbank which were abandoned.  What is known is that they were hunters and farmers.  That they were farmers is indicated by the fact that the word "Monacan" is derived from the Algonquin word signifying a stick or spade.

Between the years of 1699-1705, some five to seven hundred Huguenot refugees fleeing from persecution in France settled on the James River near Manakin in the then-abandoned Monacan Indian villages. They soon scattered throughout the area, building fine homes, some of which are still standing in the county.

In May 1777, the Virginia General Assembly created the County of Powhatan out of land from the eastern portion of Cumberland County between the Appomattox and James Rivers. In 1850, a small portion of Chesterfield County was annexed, creating what today is the 273-square mile county of Powhatan.

In Virginia, there are nine counties bearing Indian names. Only one, Powhatan, is named for an Indian chief. "Chief Powhatan," father of the famous Indian princess, Pocahontas, was one of the greatest, and is today one of the best known of the Indian chiefs.