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Belgrade Lakes Area |
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Belgrade Lakes - Just ten miles west of the City of Waterville is the
beautiful region known as the Belgrade Lakes. The town of Belgrade was
incorporated in 1796 as the 102nd town of the Province of Maine in the
Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The name was chosen by John Vassal Davis who
admired Belgrade, Yugoslavia, when he visited there as a representative of the
East India Company. By the late 1880s, the region was discovered by vacationers
and by the early 1900s large numbers of tourists arrived by steam train. Today
tourists still enjoy the breath-taking beauty of this magnificent region.  The
Belgrade Lakes include the towns of Belgrade, Belgrade Lakes, North Belgrade,
Smithfield, and parts of Rome, Sidney, and Oakland; and, as it was some eighty
years ago, is still a most popular place to visit, vacation, or live. Great Pond,
the largest of the lakes in the region, was the inspiration for the play and
movie, “On Golden Pond.” The famous mail boat operates daily during the summer
months. Belgrade is located just a few miles northwest of Maine's capital city,
Augusta. The current population is estimated to be about 4,000 year-round
citizens, and that number nearly doubles when non-residents arrive to spend the
summer months at their cottages. The first settlers came to Belgrade in 1774, and
the Town was incorporated in 1796. In the early days, most of its citizens earned
a living by farming or working in its several grist and lumber mills. Gradually,
however, residents started commuting to nearby cities for employment. Now, no
working farms remain in Belgrade, and the town has become what many call a
"bedroom community" composed of people who reside here but who work elsewhere.
Employment in town is limited, with two lumber companies and a manufacturer of
concrete products employing most locals. Small businesses such as restaurants and
country stores provide a few year-round jobs, with rental cottages, boys/girls
camps, marinas and a golf course adding part-time positions in the summer.
Belgrade covers about sixty square miles, with a large part of this area composed
of lakes, streams and wetlands. Its five lakes and their inlet/outlet streams
offer several species of fish for those who enjoy fishing, plenty of water
surface for boaters, and excellent opportunities for those people interested in
bird watching. With forest acreage expanding, as former farmland reverts to tree
growth, deer, moose and birds have become more plentiful. There is a new
world-class 18-hole golf course, just south of Belgrade Lakes Village.
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