Tappahannock

Tappahannock is the oldest town in Essex County, Virginia, United States. As of the 2020 census, Tappahannock had a population of 2,193. Located on the Rappahannock River, Tappahannock is the county seat of Essex County. Its name comes from an Algonquian language word lappihanne, meaning "Town on the rise and fall of water" or "where the tide ebbs and flows." The Rappahannock is a tidal estuary from above this point and downriver to its mouth on Chesapeake Bay.