GRAHAM LAKE, UNION RIVER AND THE DAM

HISTORY OF GRAHAM LAKE: 

Graham Lake was formed by the construction of a dam across the Union River in the 1920’s. The dam is located at Patriot Road in Ellsworth. State Route 180 originally crossed the dam and terminated at RT 179. Due to the deteriorating condition of the dam, RT 180 was re-routed to the road it is today after years of road construction and temporary bridges. Patriot Road is the original section of RT 180. It has also been referred to as Eagle Road from the RT 179 side. Graham Lake was designed as a reservoir to aid in the control of the flow of water for the Ellsworth Dam; a water turbine power generating dam located by the Ellsworth Library. The Ellsworth Dam created Leonard Lake in Ellsworth. The Town of Mariaville does not control the dam that creates Graham Lake. The owners/operators of the Graham Lake Dam have changed several times. The Bangor Hydro electric company got its name in part from its original affiliation with hydro-electric power generation (dams). Bangor Hydro sold the Graham Lake and Ellsworth dams. They are currently operated/owned by Black Bear Hydro Partners/Brookfield Renewable.