Lake Pohenegamook (Lac Pohénégamook) is a Canadian

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 lar ...

located in Temiscouata Regional County Municipality (MRC), in administrative region of

Bas-Saint-Laurent The Bas-Saint-Laurent (Lower Saint-Lawrence), is an administrative region of Quebec located along the south shore of the lower Saint Lawrence River in Quebec. The river widens at this place, later becoming a bay that discharges into the Atlanti ...

, in southeastern

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Government of Canada, Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is ...

immediately north of the International Boundary with

Maine Maine () is a U.S. state, state in the New England and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Provinces and territories of Canad ...

Aroostook County Aroostook County ( ; french: Comté d'Aroostook) is a county in the U.S. state of Maine along the Canada–U.S. border. As of the 2020 census, the population was 67,105. Its county seat is Houlton, with offices in Caribou and Fort Kent. ...

. It is the source of the

Saint Francis River The St. Francis River is a tributary of the Mississippi River, about long, in southeastern Missouri and northeastern Arkansas in the United States. The river drains a mostly rural area and forms part of the Missouri-Arkansas state line along ...

Geography

Oriented north-south, the lake is nestled in a valley in the

Notre Dame Mountains The Notre Dame Mountains are a portion of the Appalachian Mountains, extending from the Gaspé Peninsula of Quebec to the Green Mountains of Vermont. The range runs from northeast to southwest, forming the southern edge of the St. Lawrence River ...

, part of the Appalachian Range. Route 289 runs along the southern and western shores through the municipality of Pohénégamook - an amalgamation of several villages. The

National Transcontinental Railway The National Transcontinental Railway (NTR) was a historic railway between Winnipeg and Moncton in Canada. Much of the line is now operated by the Canadian National Railway. The Grand Trunk partnership The completion of construction of Canada's ...

constructed its mainline from

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749 ...

, Manitoba to

Moncton Moncton (; ) is the most populous city in the Canadian province of New Brunswick. Situated in the Petitcodiac River Valley, Moncton lies at the geographic centre of the Maritime Provinces. The city has earned the nickname "Hub City" because o ...

, New Brunswick along the western and southern shores in 1912 - today this line forms the mainline of

CN Rail The Canadian National Railway Company (french: Compagnie des chemins de fer nationaux du Canada) is a Canadian Class I freight railway headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, which serves Canada and the Midwestern and Southern United States. CN i ...

between Halifax, Nova Scotia and

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple- ...

, Quebec. The community of

Estcourt Station Estcourt Station (elevation: , pop. 4) is a village within the Big Twenty Township in the state of Maine. It is the northernmost point in Maine and New England. The ZIP Code for Estcourt Station is 04741. Overview Estcourt Station is located ...

(the northernmost point in

New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian province ...

) is located immediately south of the CN railway line at the lake's southern shore.

Toponymy

The place name "Lake Pohenegamook" was formalized on December 5, 1968, at the

Commission de toponymie du Québec The Commission de toponymie du Québec (English: ''Toponymy Commission of Québec'') is the Government of Québec's public body responsible for cataloging, preserving, making official and publicize Québec's place names and their origins according ...

(Quebec Names Board).Commission de toponymie du Québec (Québec Names Board) - Banque de noms de lieux (Place names Bank) - Toponym: "Lake Pohénégamook"
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Legend

According to legend, a monster that looks like an upturned canoe covered in scales called the Ponik lives in the lake. Its possible the monster's appearance was conceived from the mistaken observation of a sturgeon, from stories of

sea serpent A sea serpent or sea dragon is a type of dragon sea monster described in various mythologies, most notably Mesopotamian (Tiamat), Judaeo-Christian (Leviathan), Greek (Cetus, Echidna, Hydra, Scylla), and Norse ( Jörmungandr). Mythology and fo ...

s or from logs floating in the lake's waters. The legend of Ponik has a positive impact on the lake and the city of Pohenegamook, as it makes them both more known to many Quebecers.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lake Pohenegamook Pohenegamook Tributaries of the Saint John River (Bay of Fundy)

Geography

Toponymy

Legend

See also

References