Baker Branch Saint John River
| Baker Branch Saint John River | |
|---|---|
 | |
 | |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Mouth | SW Branch Saint John River 46°28′28″N 69°54′11″W / 46.4744°N 69.9030°W |
• elevation | 1,100 feet (340 m) |
| Basin features | |
| Progression | SW Branch – Saint John River |
The Baker Branch Saint John River is a 48.0-mile-long (77.2 km)[1] river in Maine. The Baker Stream originates in Upper First Saint John Pond (46°01′50″N 69°58′56″W / 46.03045°N 69.98235°W) northeast of Truesdale Mountain in the northwest corner of Maine Township 4, Range 17, WELS. The stream flows sequentially through Lower First Saint John Pond, Second Saint John Pond, and Third Saint John Pond before entering T.5 R.17, WELS, to flow into Fourth Saint John Pond. The outflow of 4th St. John Pond (46°04′00″N 69°54′26″W / 46.0668°N 69.9071°W), now the Baker Branch, flows into Fifth Saint John Pond on the boundary with T.6 R.17, WELS. In 1939, Fifth Saint John Pond was impounded in T.6 R.17 to form a diversion into the North Branch Penobscot River,[2] but most flow follows the original channel north to Baker Lake at the confluence with Sweeney Brook in T.7 R.17, WELS. Turner Brook and Brailey Brook are tributary to the branch in T.8 R.17, WELS, before the Baker Branch's confluence with the Southwest Branch Saint John River in T.9 R.17, WELS.
History
The Baker Branch drains a portion of the Maine North Woods utilized for 20th century pulpwood production. Spruce and Balsam Fir trees were bucked into 4-foot (1.2-meter) lengths beginning in 1917 and loaded onto sleds towed by draft animals or log haulers to the nearest river or lake. Log drives would float the pulpwood logs to a downstream paper mill when the snow and ice melted.[3] A problem arose because pulpwood growing around the Saint John Ponds was destined for Great Northern Paper Company's Millinocket mill on the West Branch Penobscot River. The Seboomook Lake and Saint John Railroad was built in 1921 to carry pulpwood southerly from Fifth Saint John Pond to Seboomook Lake. The railroad followed the east bank of the Baker Branch between the 4th and 5th Saint John Ponds. The railroad was dismantled and converted to a truck road in the 1950s when the canal was constructed to convey floating pulpwood from Fifth Saint John Pond to the North Branch Penobscot River.[4]
See also
References
- ^ U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data. The National Map, accessed June 22, 2011
- ^ "Fifth St. John Pond" (PDF). Maine Lake Survey Maps. Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Game. Retrieved 2010-05-24.
{{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|month=(help) - ^ "The Northern: The Way I Remember" (PDF). John E. Mcleod. Retrieved 2012-12-19.
- ^ Gove, William G. The Railroad that went Nowhere in Down East magazine