Flagstaff Lake (Maine) facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Flagstaff |
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Flagstaff Lake seen from Mount Bigelow
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 Flagstaff
Location in Maine
Flagstaff
Location in the United States
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| Location | Northwest Somerset, Somerset County, and Eustis, Franklin County, Maine, US |
| Coordinates | 45°11′38.9″N 70°18′52.4″W / 45.194139°N 70.314556°W |
| Type | eutrophic, reservoir, Man Made Lake, Its a flooded village, once known as Flagstaff Village. |
| Primary inflows | North Branch Dead River; South Branch Dead River |
| Primary outflows | Dead River |
| Catchment area | 516 square miles (1,340 km2) |
| Basin countries | United States |
| Surface area | 20,300 acres (8,200 ha) |
| Average depth | 18 feet (5.5 m) |
| Max. depth | 48 feet (15 m) |
| Water volume | 261,365 acre⋅ft (322,389,000 m3) |
| Residence time | 6 months |
| Shore length1 | 147.2 miles (236.9 km) |
| Surface elevation | 1,146 feet (349 m) |
| 1 Shore length is not a well-defined measure. | |
Flagstaff Lake is located in Somerset County and Franklin County, Maine in the United States. The North Branch Dead River and South Branch Dead River join in the lake, forming the Dead River.
The lake's surface area is 20,300 acres (82 km2), and it has a storage capacity of about 275,482 acre-feet. It is extremely shallow (more so during drought years). Its deepest point is 48 feet (15 m). Landlocked salmon and brook trout 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.
Long Falls Dam
Flagstaff Lake was a smaller natural lake when the Long Falls Dam impounded the Dead River in 1950, enlarging the lake and turning it into a reservoir used for hydropower electricity production by regulating the flow of the Dead River into the Kennebec River. 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. 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 gates, 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.
Images for kids
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A 37th Squadron F-102 like the one in Flagstaff Lake.
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The other aircraft destroyed by the collision was similar to this T-33A.
