It was built as a town for workers engaged in the construction of the now decommissioned Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant.

The administrative centre of Visaginas municipality is situated near the country's biggest lake, Drūkšiai.

Before World War II, from 1922 to 1939, the area of modern Visaginas lay within the boundaries of the Gmina Smołwy in the Brasław County of the Wilno Voivodeship in Poland.

The settlement was founded in 1975 as Sniečkus, a town for workers at the Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant on the shores of Lake Visaginas.

The new town was named after Antanas Sniečkus, a former first secretary of the Lithuanian Communist Party, and was granted the status of an urban-type settlement.

The settlement was developed in complexes, with construction designed to create an infrastructure for the cultural and everyday life of the residents.

Orthodox Christians made up 40.42% of the total population, Roman Catholics 27.29%, the Non-affiliated 27.29%, Old Believers 2.89% and Muslims 0.46%.