Louisa County, Virginia

The county was established in 1742 and named for Princess Louisa who was the daughter of England's King George II and Queen Caroline and the wife of Denmark's King Frederick V.

This area of Louisa County long has been the site of a variety of mining activities. The earliest record of mining in the area is the Charles Chiswell iron patent of 1728-1731, which was located near the Louisa and Spotsylvania County border. Gold was first mined in the Mineral area about 1831, and its discovery led to the discovery of other minerals including iron ore, sulfur, copper, lead, and zinc. By 1839, several iron mines and iron furnaces were in operation. [1]

1. Ashley Neville and Sarah Clarke, Ashley Neville, LLC, Mineral Historic District, Mineral, Virginia, nomination document, 2004, National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places, Washington, D.C.