The lake was named for the daughter of Native American chief Metalluk, and is best known for the Gilded Age Parmachenee Club.

The lake is habitat for native brook trout and land-locked Atlantic salmon preying on rainbow smelt, minnows, and suckers.

As trout and salmon disappeared from rivers in more heavily populated parts of the United States, a group of affluent New York lawyers pooled resources to preserve the Parmachenee Lake area for angling and sport hunting by their friends and families.

Water quality remains good in the lake, and populations of native fish survive and reproduce without stocking.

[4] The Parmachenee Club was formed in 1890 to lease 120,000 acres (49,000 ha) of commercial forest land extending south from the Canadian border where they built a camp in the meadows along the Magalloway River.