Pagan River

Formed about three miles north of Smithfield, the river runs narrow until it is joined by Cypress Creek.

Unlike many of the tributaries along the James, it is largely untouched by development — 88 percent of its watershed is a mix of forest, pasture, grasslands and wetlands, according to a 2001 report by the U.S. Geological Survey.

The Pagan, however, played an integral role in the growth of Smithfield, a town of approximately 8,000 people best known for producing Virginia hams.

Peanut warehouses lined the river banks until a 1921 fire prompted the industry to shift to Suffolk.

[2] The name of the river may come from the Algonquin language word for pecan (Cree pakan, Ojibway pagan, Abenaki pagann) "that which is cracked with a tool" referring to the nut.