Flagstaff Lake (Maine)
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Flagstaff Lake is located in Somerset County and Franklin County,
Maine Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and north ...
, in the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
. The North Branch Dead River and South Branch Dead River join in the lake, forming the Dead River. The lake's surface area is , and it has a storage capacity of about 275,482
acre-feet The acre-foot is a non- SI unit of volume equal to about commonly used in the United States in reference to large-scale water resources, such as reservoirs, aqueducts, canals, sewer flow capacity, irrigation water, and river flows. An acre-f ...
. It is extremely shallow (more so during drought years). Its deepest point is .
Landlocked salmon The Atlantic salmon (''Salmo salar'') is a species of ray-finned fish in the family Salmonidae. It is the third largest of the Salmonidae, behind Siberian taimen and Pacific Chinook salmon, growing up to a meter in length. Atlantic salmon ar ...
and
brook trout The brook trout (''Salvelinus fontinalis'') is a species of freshwater fish in the char genus ''Salvelinus'' of the salmon family Salmonidae. It is native to Eastern North America in the United States and Canada, but has been introduced elsewhere ...
can be caught. Some points on the lake are very marshy and have to be negotiated with a canoe or kayak; even then, wading may be necessary in the marshy areas to get through to the rest of the lake. Bigelow Mountain Range overlooks from the lake's southern shore, which makes the lake popular for outdoor activities. The lake is mostly undeveloped with relatively few boats and is optimal for kayaking.


Long Falls Dam

Flagstaff Lake was a smaller natural lake when the Long Falls Dam impounded the Dead River in 1950, enlarging the
lake A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much large ...
and turning it into a reservoir used for hydropower electricity production by regulating the flow of the Dead River into the
Kennebec River The Kennebec River (Abenaki language, Abenaki: ''Kinəpékʷihtəkʷ'') is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map , accessed June 30, 2011 river within the U.S. state of Maine. It ri ...
. At the time, the river drive was still a primary means of delivering timber to the pulp mills downstream. Improved highways and the trucking industry have replaced the river drive. Construction was controversial dating back to 1923, pitting the president of Central Maine Power Company, Walter Wyman, against state legislator and future Maine governor
Percival Proctor Baxter Percival Proctor Baxter (November 22, 1876 – June 12, 1969) was an American politician and philanthropist from Maine. The son of canning magnate and Portland, Maine mayor James Phinney Baxter, he served as the 53rd Governor of the U.S. state ...
. Flagstaff Lake occupies parts of the abandoned and now submerged townships of Flagstaff, Bigelow, Dead River and Carrying Place. The dam is 45 feet high, 1339 feet long at its crest, and consists of a 450-foot concrete spillway, a 125-foot-long concrete section containing five 20-foot-wide
Tainter gate The Tainter gate is a type of radial arm floodgate used in dams and canal locks to control water flow. It is named for Wisconsin structural engineer Jeremiah Burnham Tainter. A side view of a Tainter gate resembles a slice of pie with the c ...
s, a 70-foot-long concrete section containing two Broome gates, and a log sluice, and a 694-foot-long earthen dike. The dam is owned and operated by Brookfield Renewable Energy, but no electricity is generated here. The dam is operated to regulate and augment flows that are used by eight downstream mainstem Kennebec River hydropower projects, and to control flooding.


1959 Air Accident

A mid-air collision occurred over the lake during a
United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal ...
exercise on the evening of 3 November 1959. A
Lockheed T-33 Shooting Star The Lockheed T-33 Shooting Star (or T-Bird) is an American subsonic jet trainer. It was produced by Lockheed and made its first flight in 1948. The T-33 was developed from the Lockheed P-80/F-80 starting as TP-80C/TF-80C in development, then d ...
simulated an enemy aircraft approaching from the east while
ground-controlled interception Ground-controlled interception (GCI) is an air defence tactic whereby one or more radar stations or other observational stations are linked to a command communications centre which guides interceptor aircraft to an airborne target. This tactic was p ...
directed
Convair F-102 Delta Dagger The Convair F-102 Delta Dagger was an American interceptor aircraft designed and manufactured by Convair. Built as part of the backbone of the United States Air Force's air defenses in the late 1950s, it entered service in 1956. Its main purpos ...
s of the 37th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron from
Burlington International Airport Burlington International Airport is a joint-use civil-military airport serving Burlington, Vermont, the state of Vermont's largest municipality. It is owned by the City of Burlington and located in the neighboring city of South Burlington, thr ...
to intercept it. One of the F-102s pressed a simulated firing run too close as the interception occurred over the lake, and the F-102 delta wing cut the tail off the T-33. The T-33 crew ejected successfully, but the rear seat crewman died when he became tangled in his parachute and landed upside down near the front section of the T-33. The front half of the T-33 was discovered in 1959, and the back half was discovered a few years later. The F-102 aircraft was discovered in Flagstaff Lake in 1979, but the pilot was never found.


References

{{authority control Kennebec River Lakes of Somerset County, Maine Lakes of Franklin County, Maine Reservoirs in Maine Protected areas of Franklin County, Maine Protected areas of Somerset County, Maine Dams in Maine United States power company dams Dams completed in 1948 Northern Forest Canoe Trail