Discover the Oldest Artificial Lake in Maine

Written by Colby Maxwell
Updated: August 10, 2023
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Chesuncook Lake is the Oldest Artificial Lake in Maine
Chesuncook Lake is famous for salmon, trout, and its huge white perch.

Maine is a beautiful landscape covered in forests and dotted with lakes, but which one is the oldest? Today, we are going to take a deep dive in order to discover the oldest artificial lake in Maine, plus a little about the animals that live near it. Let’s get started!

The Oldest Artificial Lake in Maine

North Maine Woods

Chesuncook Lake is located on the Northern Forest Canoe Trail.

©Kelly vanDellen/Shutterstock.com

The oldest artificial lake in Maine is probably Chesuncook Lake, although there isn’t a detailed public record to give us a solid answer to the question.

The lake was formed when the West Branch Penobscot River was dammed with structures built in 1835, 1903, and 1916. It is Maine’s third-largest body of fresh water and covers an area of 25,183 acres, with a maximum depth of 150 feet. The lake is located on the Northern Forest Canoe Trail and has a small settlement called Chesuncook Village on its northwestern shore. It got its name “goose place” by combining the call of the Canada goose “schunk” with “auke” (the Abenaki word for place) to form Chesuncook. That makes sense, right?

The West Branch of the Penobscot river in northern Maine

Chesuncook Lake was formed when the West Branch Penobscot River was dammed


Image: Stephen G. Page, Shutterstock

©Stephen G. Page/Shutterstock.com

That being said, it is possible that Chesuncook Lake isn’t technically the oldest artificial lake in Maine, although it is one of the oldest on record. The Nequasset River is a tributary of the Kennebec River that flows through the town of Woolwich in Maine. The river has had some artificial structures created along it dating back to the early 1700s when locals built a dam on the river to create their own water supply. Although Nequasset Lake already existed, a smaller portion that was dammed up could technically be considered the oldest artificial lake that has any sort of documentation.

Hand crafted wooden canoe waiting to go out for a paddle to explore one of the beautiful lakes in the north Maine woods

Chesuncook Lake is in the North Maine Woods.


Image: Kate Sfeir, Shutterstock

©Kate Sfeir/Shutterstock.com

In 1889, the dam was rebuilt with concrete, and a wooden fish ladder was added to allow the alewives to pass over the dam and reach the lake. The fish ladder was an important feature that helped sustain the alewife population and the fishing industry that depended on them.

Where is Chesuncook Lake Located on a Map?

Chesuncook Lake is a reservoir built originally for water storage and hydropower and as a means to send pulpwood to downstream paper mills. Today, recreation and fishing are popular. Besides salmon and trout, the lake is famous for its huge white perch.

Wildlife around Maine’s Lakes

A bull moose in the woods of Maine.

Fish

, birds, mammals, and a lot of other animals can be found living in or around Maine’s lake.

Moose

can be seen all over Maine!

©Paul Tessier/Shutterstock.com

Fish

Maine lakes are extremely abundant with fish. Some of the most popular fish species in Maine lakes are brook trout, lake trout, salmon, smallmouth bass, largemouth bass, and northern pike. As far as the United States goes, Maine is known to have some of the best fishing in the entire country.

Birds

Maine’s lakes are home to many bird species, some resident and some migrant. Some of the most common and notable birds that can be seen are the Common Loon, Bald Eagle, Osprey, Great Blue Heron, and Belted Kingfisher.

Mammals

Maine’s lakes are a magnet for many of the cute mammals and other wildlife found in the state. Some of the animals found near Maine’s lakes are beaver, moose, river otter, mink, and muskrat. Moose are the largest members of the deer family and a famous symbol of the state of Maine!

Reptiles & Amphibians

There are (pretty much) always reptiles and amphibians in and around water sources. Some of the most common ones found in Maine include snapping turtles, painted turtles, garter snakes, milk snakes, red-bellied snakes, mudpuppies, bullfrogs, green frogs, wood frogs, spring peepers, and salamanders.

The Oldest Overall Lake in Maine

Bubble Pond with The North Bubble and Sargent Mountain

As glaciers receded and melted into this granite bowl, Sargent Mountain Pond was formed as one of the first lakes in Maine.

©Src14/Shutterstock.com

Sargent Mountain Pond is the oldest lake in Maine, dating back to the end of the last ice age. It was formed when a basin in the granite bedrock filled with water as the glacier melted, creating the first lake in the landscape that would become Maine.

As the National Park Service writes about Acadia National Park and Sargent Mountain Pond, for at least a hundred years, the lake was the only one in the region and was surrounded by a tundra-like environment. As the climate warmed and the land rebounded, other lakes appeared and forests grew around the pond.

Sargent Mountain Pond is located in Acadia National Park, on top of Sargent Mountain, 1,200 feet above sea level. Scientists have studied the pond by drilling sediment cores from its bottom, which reveal its history and the changes in its environment over thousands of years and told us what we know about the age of the lake today.

The photo featured at the top of this post is © Thomas J. McLaughlin/Shutterstock.com


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About the Author

Colby is a writer at A-Z Animals primarily covering outdoors, unique animal stories, and science news. Colby has been writing about science news and animals for five years and holds a bachelor's degree from SEU. A resident of NYC, you can find him camping, exploring, and telling everyone about what birds he saw at his local birdfeeder.

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