Pomonkey is named for the Pamunkey tribeofNative Americans that lived in the area. The Brent family owned much of the land from before the American Revolutionary War, asserting their headright and other claims particularly after colonist Giles Brent (1604-1672) married princess Mary Kittamaquund, in 1644. However, the next year a raid by a rival (and Protestant) trading group on their trading post at nearby Kent Island and soon the death of Governor Leonard Calvert led the Brents to flee to Virginia. By the beginning of the 18th century, Brent family members had plantations on both sides of the Potomac River. A collateral descendant, Robert Brent (1764-1819), became the first mayor of Washington, D.C. (and freed his slaves in his will).
In the early 19th century, the village of Bumpy Oak was renamed Pomonkey when it was designated a postal stop.[5] Another Robert Brent (1759-1810) and Dorothy Leigh Brent built a plantation house in this area, which they called Brentfield (which later burned down). Their children included Maryland judge George Brent (1817-1881) and Louisiana's U.S. Representative William Leigh Brent (1784-1848), one of whose sons became Maryland Attorney General Robert James Brent and another Confederate General Joseph Lancaster Brent.[6][better source needed]
The former Pomonkey High School was one of two black segregated high schools in Charles County until the 1960s, and has a proud alumni association.[7] From 1946 to 1970 the "Pomonkey Spoon Factory" manufactured wooden tools and small items.[8][not specific enough to verify]
For several years, Maryland Airport has planned a 1,300 ft (400 m) expansion, including an energetics (explosives) technical center and business park employing over 3,000 people. However, environmental concerns related to stormwater discharge into Mattawoman Creek delayed those plans.[9][not specific enough to verify] The Naval Research Laboratory has its Free Space Antenna Range on Bumpy Oak Road.[citation needed]
Demographics
Pomonkey itself is a rural area, for which few statistics are available. Bryans Road, Maryland is the nearest community to Pomonkey for which data are available.[10] However, the area lies at the meeting of ZIP codes 20616 (Bryans Road), 20640 (Indian Head) and 20646 (La Plata).[11] As of 2000, Election District 7 (named for Pomonkey, but which includes Bryans Road and Indian Head)[1] had a population of 11,859 persons. The racial breakdown was: 59.0% white, 35.8% black, 1.5% American Indian and Alaskan Native, 1.2% Asian, 0.1% Asian Indian, 0.2% Chinese, 0.6% Filipino, <0.1% Japanese, 0.1% Korean, <0.1% Vietnamese, 0.1% Other Asian, 0.1% Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islander, 0.5% Other race, 1.8% two or more races.[12]
^"Pomonkey Map". Absolute United States. Retrieved 2008-02-19.
^"Routes 220-239". MDRoads. Retrieved 2008-02-19. Contrast with the Pomonkey Map, and see that the note for Route 227 refers to Marshall Hall road, which differs from Marshall Corner road.
^Bryans Road, Appendix B Appendix B Brief History of Bryans Road
^David M. French, The Brent Family; the Carroll Families of Colonial Maryland (Alexandria, Virginia bound genealogical typescript, copyrighted 1981) pp. 85-87
