In 1829 gold was discovered in Louisa county. In the 1880s gold mining reached its peak. The Goodman gold mine is the site that later became Lake Anna. The reservoir is formed by the North Anna Dam on the North Anna River at . In 1968, Virginia Electric and Power Company (now Dominion) purchased 18,000 acres (73 km²) of farmlands in three counties along the North Anna and Pamunkey Rivers. They planned to provide clean, fresh water to cool the nuclear power generating plants at the North Anna Nuclear Generating Station next to the lake. By 1972 the lake bottom was cleared of all trees and the dam was almost finished. It was thought it would take three years to completely fill the lake. But with the additional rainfall from Hurricane Agnes, the lake was full in only 18 months. The first communities were started at about that same time. Now there are about 120 different communities on the shores of the lake. In March 1986, construction on the dam's 1 megawatt hydroelectric power plant began. The two generators went into commercial operation in December 1987.