Farmland and the Village at Long Lake (2005)

[a-GAT or AG-ah-thah] is a town in Aroostook County, incorporated on March 17, 1899 from a portion of Frenchville. In 1927 it annexed additional land from Frenchville.

The name is variously spelled St. Agatha, Saint Agatha, Ste. Agathe.

Settled by Acadians, the name derives from the parish church that was established in 1890. Agatha was a martyred Sicilian saint of the third century, put to death for her Christian beliefs.

Farming and lumbering have been this St. John Valley area town’s historic economic base.

Located on the northwest shore of Long Lake, Maine Route 162 from Frenchville passes through the main village, then hugs the lake shore and continues along nearby Mud Lake.

According to the town’s “to-do” suggestions for visitors, “Long Lake, a 6,000 acre body of water and the deepest of the Fish River Chain of Lakes, is home to year round world class land-locked salmon fishing. Other species include brown trout, brook trout, lake trout and the more recent European appetite for carp fishing.”

Historically, the area was an autonomous parish of the Catholic Church, so designated by Bishop James Healy.  First settled in 1847 on the shore of Long Lake, its population grew as farmers discovered its rich soil. Photo shows the house where George and Rita (Dumond) Cyr lived with their two children.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Form of Government: Town Meeting-Select Board-Manager.

Additional resources

Blesso, Jacqueline Chamberland. La Complainte à Ste. Agathe. Jacqueline Chamberland Blesso, 1992. (Cataloger Note: Thesis (MA)–Montclair State College, 1992.) [University of Maine at Fort Kent. Blake Library]

Centenaire de St. Agatha, Maine, 1899-1999. St. Agatha, Me. Ste. Agathe Historical Society. 1999.

Chassé, Marc. Les Belles Histoires du Couvent de Ste-Agathe. Maine. M. Chassé, 2004?

Delano, Jack. “Log house occupied by French-Canadian potato farmer near Saint Agatha” (1940).  Library of Congress. Reproduction Number: LC-USF34-042041-D at http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2017792370/ (accessed December 10, 2017)

Diamond Jubilee: St. Agatha Parish, 1889-1964. Saint Agatha, Me. The Committee, 1965.

Jorgensen, Erik. Long Lake  photo

*”Lagassey Farm.” National Park Service. 2008.
https://npgallery.nps.gov/pdfhost/docs/nrhp/text/08001356.PDF (accessed June 13, 2018)

Les Filles de la Sagesse, Ste-Agathe, Maine, 1904-2004. Saint Agatha, Me. Ste. Agathe Historical Society. 2004.

Made in Maine [moving image recording]: Aroostook County. Lewiston, Me. Maine Public Broadcasting. c1999. [University of Maine at Presque Isle, Library and Learning Resource Center]

“St. Agatha, Maine.” http://www.stagatha.com/ (accessed March 12, 2012)

University of New Hampshire Dimond Library, Documents Department & Data Center, Historic USGS Maps of New England & New York, from http://http://docs.unh.edu/towns/FrenchvilleMaineMapList.htm (accesses March 12, 2012). Composite image: north section, 1935; south section, 1931.

National Register of Historic Places – Listings

Photos, and edited text are from nominations to the National Register of Historic Places researched by Maine. Historic Preservation Commission.
Full text and photos are at https://npgallery.nps.gov/nrhp 

Lagassey Farm

The Lagassey Farm is a 162 acre property. The land was homesteaded by the Lagassey family starting in the mid-19th century, and has been in their possession ever since. The long lot property contains approximately 91 acres of fields which have been historically sown to potatoes, hay, oats, and canola, 64 acres of wood lots, and the home site.  The buildings within this small district include the 1946 Lagassey House, the 1916 Acadian-style Barn, a pre-1916 Acadian-style outbuilding, and a Shed that was once part of the 19th century farm house. The entire farm is still under cultivation and owned by the Lagassey family.

As defined by the National Park Service, a “Maine Acadian” is considered to be “an American of French descent connected by heritage to the Upper St. John Valley, including but not limited to genealogical descendants of early Acadian settlers of the Valley.” Maine Acadians comprise a regionally based but distinctive culture: Contemporary Maine Acadians constitute a regionally-based ethnic group with a distinctive heritage in Maine, and the United States more generally.

While it is unfortunate that the potato house is no longer exists, the presence of the two Acadian style structures on the long-lot Lagassey Farm, as well as the newer home, and re-cycled ell speak to a relationship with this land that has lasted for generations, and reflects many aspects of this region’s Acadian agricultural and cultural history. The Lagassey Farm is also important for the Acadian style agricultural buildings, which are good examples of a regionally distinct style of architecture.