Onega

At the mouth of the Onega, a Pomor settlement stood where the river meets the cold waters of the White Sea. Its people fished the coast and traded along the river, which led inland to Kargopol and Lake Lacha. Salt works on the shore supplied a valuable cargo for that route.

A survey of 1555–1556 records the Ust-Onega churchyard with churches of the Assumption and St Nicholas. Its lands included fishing grounds across the river and saltworks on Kiy Island near the mouth. People from the Onega country carried coastal salt to Kargopol for sale to merchants from Vologda and Beloozero. In 1780 Ust-Onega became the town of Onega, retaining the river name that tied its history to the sea and the northern interior.