Portage Lake, Maine

Portage Lake, Maine
—  Town  —
Portage Lake, Maine Location within the state of Maine
Coordinates: 46°46′41″N 68°29′57″W
Country	United States
State	Maine
County	Aroostook
Area
• Total	34.5 sq mi (89.4 km2)
• Land	30.7 sq mi (79.6 km2)
• Water	3.8 sq mi (9.8 km2)
Elevation	725 ft (221 m)
Population (2000)
• Total	390
• Density	12.7/sq mi (4.9/km2)
Time zone	Eastern (EST) (UTC-5)
• Summer (DST)	EDT (UTC-4)
ZIP code	04768
Area code(s)	207
FIPS code	23-60300
GNIS feature ID	0582681

Portage Lake is a town in Aroostook County, Maine, United States. The population was 390 at the 2000 census.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 34.5 square miles (89 km²), of which, 30.7 square miles (80 km²) of it is land and 3.8 square miles (9.8 km²) of it (11.01%) is water.

Portage Lake is located along Maine State Route 11, which runs north-south and is the only state road in town. The town is located south of Fort Kent and west of both Caribou and Presque Isle, which are the closest commercial centers.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 390 people, 183 households, and 116 families residing in the town. The population density was 12.7 people per square mile (4.9/km²). There were 485 housing units at an average density of 15.8 per square mile (6.1/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 99.74% White, 0.26% from other races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.26% of the population.

There were 183 households out of which 17.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 58.5% were married couples living together, 3.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 36.1% were non-families. 26.8% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.11 and the average family size was 2.53.

In the town the population was spread out with 14.4% under the age of 18, 3.6% from 18 to 24, 25.1% from 25 to 44, 38.5% from 45 to 64, and 18.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 48 years. For every 100 females there were 109.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 104.9 males.

The median income for a household in the town was $32,232, and the median income for a family was $40,000. Males had a median income of $35,104 versus $18,542 for females. The per capita income for the town was $17,983. About 8.2% of families and 9.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including none of those under age 18 and 22.4% of those age 65 or over.

History

The name of the city was borrowed from the name of the lake that occupies much of the center of town. The word portage comes from French and means "to carry". The town was first settled in 1844 by lumbermen from Canada. In 1872, the settlement was organized as a plantation and in 1909 it was incorporated as a town. The Stevens were the founders of Portage.^{[citation needed]}

External links

• www.aroostook.com/portage