EUSTIS, Maine (NEWS CENTER)-- In the 1940's, Flagstaff plantation was a bustling town, heavily involved in the logging industry. But by 1950, everyone was forced to leave, and what became of the town makes it very hard for visitors to return there.
Where you and I see Flagstaff Lake, June Parsons sees her the town where she grew up. That's because beneath the surface of this man-made lake lies the drowned ghost town of Flagstaff village. June lived in Flagstaff until she was 13 years old. But in 1950, Central Maine Power Company flooded the village of Flagstaff and several surrounding towns to make way for a hydro-dam. "Because they were making a storage dam for water, a storage basin for water," June added.
Hundreds of families were forced to sell their homes and businesses to the power company, pack up, and leave. Many moved to neighboring towns just outside the flood zone. June's family relocated to Eustis, where she still lives. "I thought it was exciting because we were moving," June recalled."But I was a kid."
Not everyone shared June's outlook. Across the town of Eustis, Betty Wyman fondly remembers her childhood home in Dead River, which neighbored Flagstaff. But memories are all she has now. "I can't take my children back and show them where I grew up, where I lived when I was young," said Betty. "The house is no longer there.... wherever it was is underwater."
However, if you know where to look in Eustis, you can find pieces of Flagstaff village all over. The majority of buildings, and some pieces of others, were raised and moved outside of the doomed town line. Today, you can still find the school house, the church windows, even the bodies and gravestones from the Flagstaff and Dead River cemeteries, residing in their new home. The house that June lives in was also saved.
Still, there were some who didn't settle with Central Maine Power Company before the water rose. "Some people refused to sell and they just flooded them anyway," recalled Betty.
"And then water just came up around them and continued working them and they just fell apart," added June.
Whatever is left of the abandoned village of Flagstaff now lies at the bottom of the lake of the same name- almost 50 feet down at it's deepest. But for one-time locals like June, the memories still bring the sight of the ghost town back to life. "It sticks in your mind," said June as she looked out over Flagstaff Lake. "You can picture where things were."