Portage Lake is a town in Aroostook County, settled in 1844 and organized on September 2, 1850 from the township T15 R3 WELS. After several confirmations of its plantation status, it was incorporated as a town on March 24, 1909.
Early settlers were Canadian lumbermen. The name Portage is from the French carry, usually referring to the carrying of a canoe from one water body to another.
Portage Lake itself dominates the town and gives meaning to the slogan on the welcome sign: recreation center of Aroostook. The main village, Portage, lies at the southeastern end of the Lake, about twelve miles northwest of Ashland on Maine Route 11.
