Puksoozero

Puksoozero was built in 1930 as the settlement for forcibly resettled peasants. At the time, it was directly subordinate to Plesetsk Settlement Soviet. The main occupation of the population was timber production and construction of the railroad connecting Puksoozero and Puksa railway station.

In February 1938, the construction of a pulp mill No. 1 started. The construction was mainly carried out by prisoners of "Onegalag", with the headquarters located in the town of Plesetsk. In May 1939, the pulp mill No. 1 was put into operation. Pulp was used for the production of gunpowder, which was carried out in Vyborg, Leningrad Oblast. In 1944, Puksoozero was granted urban-type settlement status.^[3]

During Stalin's rule, fourteen correctional labor camps existed in and around Puksoozero. These camps contained more than fifteen thousand prisoners. Three of these were located directly adjacent to the settlement, and the remaining camps were built along the 140-kilometer (87 mi) railway. The prisoners were responsible for the timber logging.

In 1992, after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, all colonies were closed. This caused the economic crisis, and the pump mill was shut down in 1994.^[3] The population of Puksoozero dropped by the factor of 3.5 between 1989 and 2010.

Puksoozero had work settlement status until it was demoted to a rural locality in February 2013.^[1]

The biggest enterprise in the settlement is Puksoozero Timber Enterprise (Russian: Пуксоозерский лесхоз).^[3]

A road connects Puksoozero with the urban-type settlement of Plesetsk; there is regular passenger bus traffic.

Between 1930 and 2001, Puksoozero was on the Mekhrenga railroad, which at the time it was the longest, at 115 kilometers (71 mi). The railroad started at the Puksa station of the railway between Moscow and Arkhangelsk, and ran to the east, via Puksoozero to the Dalnyaya station. The locomotive depot was located in Puksoozero and closed in 2001. The railroad belonged to the State Department of Corrections and was used to transport timber. After 1966, it was gradually disassembled. The last stretch, between Puksa and Puksoozero, was closed and disassembled in 2001.^[11]

• Архангельское областное Собрание депутатов. Областной закон №65-5-ОЗ от 23 сентября 2009 г. «Об административно-территориальном устройстве Архангельской области», в ред. Областного закона №232-13-ОЗ от 16 декабря 2014 г. «О внесении изменений в отдельные Областные Законы в сфере осуществления местного самоуправления и взаимодействия с некоммерческими организациями». Вступил в силу через десять дней со дня официального опубликования. Опубликован: "Волна", №43, 6 октября 2009 г. (Arkhangelsk Oblast Council of Deputies. Oblast Law #65-5-OZ of September 23, 2009 On the Administrative-Territorial Structure of Arkhangelsk Oblast, as amended by the Oblast Law #232-13-OZ of December 16, 2014 On Amending Various Oblast Laws Dealing with the Process of Municipal Self-Government and Relations with Non-Profit Organizations. Effective as of the day which is ten days after the official publication.).