Approximately 1.12 miles (2 km) wide, Newnans Lake is home to many forms of wildlife, and had been designated as a protected site by Alachua County.

It was renamed after Daniel Newnan, who led a detachment of Georgia militia that fought an inconclusive battle with Seminoles near the lake in 1812.

The lake's drainage basin has an area of 308 square kilometres (119 sq mi).

Forty-four archaeological sites have been identified on the shores of the lake, or at nearby ponds and marshes.

The discovery led to the site's addition to the National Register of Historic Places in March 2001.