North_Anna_River

North Anna River

North Anna River

River in Virginia, United States


The North Anna River is a principal tributary of the Pamunkey River, about 62 miles (100 km) long,[1] in central Virginia in the United States. Via the Pamunkey and York rivers, it is part of the watershed of Chesapeake Bay. The river was the site of the Battle of North Anna during the American Civil War.

Flooding of the North Anna River along U.S. Route 1 after Hurricane Camille, 1969

According to the Geographic Names Information System, the river has also been known as "Northa-Anna" and as the main stem of the Pamunkey River.[2]

Course

The North Anna River is formed by a confluence of smaller streams in western Orange County and flows generally southeastwardly. The river's course is used to define all or portions of the southern boundaries of Orange, Spotsylvania and Caroline counties; and the northern boundaries of Louisa and Hanover counties. It joins the South Anna River to form the Pamunkey River on the common boundary of Caroline and Hanover counties, about 5 miles (8 km) northeast of the town of Ashland.

The North Anna Dam on the common boundary of Louisa and Spotsylvania counties causes the river to form Lake Anna, which was created to provide water for the adjacent North Anna Nuclear Generating Station.

Near its mouth the North Anna River collects the Little River. Other tributaries of the North Anna include Pamunkey Creek and Contrary Creek.

See also


References

  1. U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data. The National Map, accessed April 1, 2011
  • Columbia Gazetter of North America entry
  • DeLorme (2005). Virginia Atlas & Gazetteer. Yarmouth, Maine: DeLorme. ISBN 0-89933-326-5.

37.80347°N 77.40776°W / 37.80347; -77.40776


Share this article:

This article uses material from the Wikipedia article North_Anna_River, and is written by contributors. Text is available under a CC BY-SA 4.0 International License; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.