Saint John Ponds

Upper First Saint John Pond
Upper First Saint John Pond is located in Maine
Upper First Saint John Pond
Upper First Saint John Pond
Coordinates46°02′N 69°59′W / 46.033°N 69.983°W / 46.033; -69.983[1]
Max. length600 yd (550 m)[2]
Surface area30 acres (12 ha)[3]
Max. depth7 feet (2.1 m)[4]
Water volume105 acre⋅ft (130,000 m3)[3]
Surface elevation1,831 ft (558 m)[1]
Lower First Saint John Pond
Lower First Saint John Pond is located in Maine
Lower First Saint John Pond
Lower First Saint John Pond
Coordinates46°02′N 69°59′W / 46.033°N 69.983°W / 46.033; -69.983[5]
Max. length800 yd (730 m)[2]
Surface area26 acres (11 ha)[3]
Max. depth5 feet (1.5 m)[4]
Water volume44 acre⋅ft (54,000 m3)[3]
Surface elevation1,831 ft (558 m)[5]
Second Saint John Pond
Second Saint John Pond is located in Maine
Second Saint John Pond
Second Saint John Pond
Coordinates46°01′N 69°58′W / 46.017°N 69.967°W / 46.017; -69.967[6]
Max. length0.9 mi (1.4 km)[2]
Surface area112 acres (45 ha)[3]
Max. depth5 feet (1.5 m)[7]
Water volume249 acre⋅ft (307,000 m3)[3]
Surface elevation1,811 ft (552 m)[6]
Third Saint John Pond
Third Saint John Pond is located in Maine
Third Saint John Pond
Third Saint John Pond
Coordinates46°02′N 69°57′W / 46.033°N 69.950°W / 46.033; -69.950[8]
Max. length2.7 mi (4.3 km)[2]
Surface area221 acres (89 ha)[3]
Max. depth14 feet (4.3 m)[9]
Water volume2,025 acre⋅ft (2,498,000 m3)[3]
Surface elevation1,617 ft (493 m)[8]
Fourth Saint John Pond
Fourth Saint John Pond is located in Maine
Fourth Saint John Pond
Fourth Saint John Pond
Coordinates46°03′N 69°55′W / 46.050°N 69.917°W / 46.050; -69.917[10]
Max. length1.1 mi (1.8 km)[2]
Surface area194 acres (79 ha)[3]
Max. depth22 feet (6.7 m)[11]
Water volume2,095 acre⋅ft (2,584,000 m3)[3]
Surface elevation1,460 ft (450 m)[10]
Fifth Saint John Pond
Fifth Saint John Pond is located in Maine
Fifth Saint John Pond
Fifth Saint John Pond
Coordinates46°08′N 69°54′W / 46.133°N 69.900°W / 46.133; -69.900[12]
Max. length4 mi (6.4 km)[2]
Surface area680 acres (280 ha)[3]
Max. depth20 feet (6.1 m)[13]
Water volume9,622 acre⋅ft (11,869,000 m3)[3]
Surface elevation1,394 ft (425 m)[12]

The Saint John Ponds are a chain of shallow lakes at the headwaters of the Baker Branch Saint John River in the North Maine Woods. The flow sequence is from the Upper First Saint John Pond, through the Lower First Saint John Pond, Second Saint John Pond, Third Saint John Pond, and Fourth Saint John Pond to the Fifth Saint John Pond. Flow from one pond to the next is sometimes called Baker Stream rather than the Baker Branch Saint John River.[2] Great Northern Paper Company dug a canal from Fifth Saint John Pond 2 miles (3.2 km) westward to the North Branch Penobscot River in 1939, and built a dam at the north end of Fifth Saint John Pond so pulpwood logs harvested in the upper Saint John River watershed could be floated down the Penobscot River to Millinocket, Maine. The canal and dam have fallen into disrepair so most drainage from the ponds again flows down the Saint John River. All upstream ponds with the exception of the first had dams to regulate discharge flow for log driving, but those dams have similarly fallen into disrepair. Moose use the ponds as summer refuge from heat and biting insects.[13]

  1. ^ a b U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Upper First Saint John Pond
  2. ^ a b c d e f g The Maine Atlas and Gazetteer (Thirteenth ed.). Freeport, Maine: DeLorme Mapping Company. 1988. p. 48. ISBN 0-89933-035-5.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Maine Depts. of Environmental Protection and Inland Fisheries & Wildlife (2005-08-04). "Maine Lakes: Morphometry and Geographic Information". Senator George J. Mitchell Center for Environmental and Watershed Research, The University of Maine. Archived from the original on 2006-09-03. Retrieved 2008-07-31.
  4. ^ a b "Upper and Lower First Saint John Ponds" (PDF). Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Game. State of Maine. Retrieved 19 May 2016.
  5. ^ a b U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Lower First Saint John Pond
  6. ^ a b U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Second Saint John Pond
  7. ^ "Second Saint John Pond" (PDF). Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Game. State of Maine. Retrieved 19 May 2016.
  8. ^ a b U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Third Saint John Pond
  9. ^ "Third Saint John Pond" (PDF). Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Game. State of Maine. Retrieved 19 May 2016.
  10. ^ a b U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Fourth Saint John Pond
  11. ^ "Fourth Saint John Pond" (PDF). Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Game. State of Maine. Retrieved 19 May 2016.
  12. ^ a b U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Fifth Saint John Pond
  13. ^ a b "Fifth Saint John Pond" (PDF). Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Game. State of Maine. Retrieved 19 May 2016.