Underwater

“It’s still there; it’s just wet.”

Kenny Wing

Grandson of Flagstaff Village, Maine resident

Flagstaff Lake, Maine

In today’s housing crisis, too many of us are familiar with the term “underwater.” In real estate jargon, it means owing more money on your house than it’s worth. But to folks who can remember Flagstaff Village, Maine, underwater means underwater—as in: Flagstaff Village is now Flagstaff Lake. And it’s no accident.

Back in the 1930s and 40s, Flagstaff Village and towns like it used DC electricity to power their towns—generated by local mills and stored in batteries. But nearing the mid-century, folks were demanding modern AC electricity—the kind used in homes today—and the local electric company answered that demand by building a hydroelectric dam on the Dead River and flooding Flagstaff Village and two other small towns. Former villagers alive today recall growing up in a town marked with an expiration date. The flooding started in 1949, and it took three years before the town was totally submerged. Or nearly totally—Schoolhouse Hill pokes out of Flagstaff Lake, the only reminder of what lies beneath. The grandson of a former villager is spearheading efforts to preserve Schoolhouse Hill as a memorial to the town that was.

A village in Venezuela suffered a similar fate in 1985. Its 1,200 residents were cleared out to make room for a new hydroelectric dam and reservoir. But this year the country is suffering a terrible drought, and the reservoir has dropped 98 feet, exposing the watery ghost town beneath. Former villagers have returned to get one more look at their former homes, church, and village square. It’s a bittersweet journey, heartbreaking for some. This is one case where perhaps it would have been best for these homes to have remained underwater.

·        Listen to the story of Flagstaff Village, Maine ® Submerged Maine town lives on in memory
·        Read the story of the Venezuelan village ® Venezuelan drought reveals a long-submerged town