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History · Eagle Lake

Eagle Lake’s post office opened in 1883, and 10% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: 9 old photos and papers, maps from 1919 on, and the census since 1870.

1883first post office
0on the National Register
10%homes built before 1940
9old photos & papers
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Eagle Lake’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Eagle Lake began

When was Eagle Lake founded?

1883

The Eagle Lake post office opened in 1883, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 143 in 18702020 census: 772143 years
Founding year: the first Eagle Lake post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Eagle Lake’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

Boom and bustPeaked at 1,891 in 1940; 772 people lived here in 2020.
★ What stands out · People over time

Eagle Lake, census by census

05001,0001,5002,00018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 1,891

Peaked at 1,891 in 1940; 772 people lived here in 2020.

16 censuses, 1870–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Eagle Lake’s Wikipedia page.

The story so far

Eagle Lake, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Eagle Lake yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Eagle Lake (French: Lac Aigle) is a town in Aroostook County, Maine, United States. The population was 772 at the 2020 census. The town was named by a body of troops heading from Bangor to the Aroostook War for the many eagles that they saw around the lake. A total of 49.0% of the population speaks French, reflecting a trend in Northeastern Maine.

Its first post office opened in 1883. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 864 to 772 (-11%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

Timeline

Eagle Lake, 1883 to 1941

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1883Post officeThe Eagle Lake post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1910Post officeThe Plaisted post office opens
  5. 1927In the archiveEagle Lake & West Branch Railroad bridge 1927 North Maine woods
  6. 1928On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  7. 1940In the archiveLandscape near Eagle Lake, Maine. Off Route 11
  8. 1940CensusPopulation peaks at 1,891
  9. 1941Born hereJohn Lewis Martin is born here
By decade

Eagle Lake, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1920s to the 1940s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1920s–1940s9 items
Eagle Lake & West Branch Railroad bridge 1927 North Maine woods1927Eagle Lake & West Branch Railroad bridge 1927 North M…Landscape near Eagle Lake, Maine. Off Route 111940Landscape near Eagle Lake, Maine. Off Route 11Wagon load of seed potatoes at the house of Lawrence J. Brown, FSA (Farm Security Administration) client of Eagle Lake,…1940Wagon load of seed potatoes at the house of Lawrence …Isolated see foundation unit of Mr. Lawrence J. Brown, FSA (Farm Security Administration) client and potato farmer1940Isolated see foundation unit of Mr. Lawrence J. Brown…Mr. Lawrence J. Brown, potato farmer and FSA (Farm Security Administration) client, operates a small seed foundation un…1940Mr. Lawrence J. Brown, potato farmer and FSA (Farm Se…Picking potatoes of the isolation unit of the farm of Mr. Lawrence J. Brown, FSA (Farm Security Administration) client …1940Picking potatoes of the isolation unit of the farm of…Mr. Lawrence J. Brown, potato farmer, FSA (Farm Security Administration) client of Eagle Lake, Maine. He has one hired …1940Mr. Lawrence J. Brown, potato farmer, FSA (Farm Secur…Mr. Lawrence J. Brown, Aroostook potato farmer operates a small seed foundation unit1940Mr. Lawrence J. Brown, Aroostook potato farmer operat…Untitled photo, possibly related to: Mr. Lawrence J. Brown, Aroostook potato farmer operates a small seed foundation un…1940Untitled photo, possibly related to: Mr. Lawrence J. …
1950s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
Today2 recent
Eagle Lake, Maine tornado damage 2009-05-242009Eagle Lake, Maine tornado damage 2009-05-24MEMap-location-of-Eagle Lake2007MEMap-location-of-Eagle Lake
On the map

Eagle Lake on the map, 1928 to 1985

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Eagle Lake. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Eagle Lake on the 1928 USGS mapEagle Lake on the 1931 USGS mapEagle Lake on the 1975 USGS mapEagle Lake on the 1985 USGS map1928Eagle Lake sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Eagle Lake.

Every building

Eagle Lake, building by building, 1919

Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a sheet.

Eagle Lake fire insurance map, 1919, sheet 11919Sheet 1 of 2
BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Eagle Lake & West Branch Railroad bridge 1927 North Maine woods
Retake this viewEagle Lake & West Branch Railroad bridge 1927 North Maine woods, 1927

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Eagle Lake’s page.

Retake this view · +15
Places that used to be

Old corners and burying grounds

Eagle Lake’s post office has been open since 1883.

Eagle Lake
1883–today
Plaisted
1910–today
18801950today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Plaisted
1cemetery inside Eagle Lake
Saint Marys

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Help out

Finish Eagle Lake’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
2 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewEagle Lake & West Branch Railroad bridg…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Wallagrass1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townWinterville plantationIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Eagle Lake’s history

What year was Eagle Lake founded?

The Eagle Lake post office opened in 1883, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (3), the Library of Congress (8), Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.