About Somerset County, ME

Lake Wesserunsett in Madison, Maine, is fringed with birch and pine trees. Four outlets and a couple of marshy areas enhance this relatively flat, shallow basin. The lake covers 1,446 acres and has a maximum depth of 22 feet with a mean depth of 12 feet.

Anglers will discover that the coves, ledges, brush, stream outlets, docks and rocky shoreline offer perfect fish cover. Brown trout, smallmouth bass, largemouth bass, white perch and chain pickerel are the key fisheries. Lake Wesserunsett is open for summer and winter fishing seasons. A public boat launch is located near the outlet of Mill Stream in East Madison.

Since 1648 the lake has seen a variety of spellings for its name and the name has been changed several times. In the 1600s the area was frequented by the Kennebec Indian tribe, who set up a camping ground where present day Lakewood Theater sits. A 1648 deed spells the lake name as Wesserunskiek. It's also spelled Usserunskcut, Wesserunscut, Arressewinsuck and Wesseronsaeg on other documents. At one time it was called Madison Pond and in the 1800s-early 1900s, it was named Hayden Pond for the Jebediah Hayden family who settled here. The present spelling was officially adopted and recognized by the State Legislature in 1912.

Eric Lahti is president of the Lake Wesserunsett Association, which oversees water quality tests, conducts invasive plant surveys and plans social events including boat parades and kayak regattas. Will Reid volunteers with the Volunteer Lake Monitoring Program and has been testing Lake Wesserunsett since 1982. The water quality of this glacially formed lake is considered average.

Kids of all ages enjoy paddling about in murky channels of the edge marshes to observe green frogs and painted turtles. The rich habitat also supports red-winged blackbirds, warblers, swallows, loons, ducks, osprey, great blue heron and bald eagles plus other wildlife.

There's plenty to do on or beside the lake with fishing, waterskiing, boating and swimming. The Lakewood Golf Course is located along the shoreline. Nearby, winter ski enthusiasts will discover Eaton Mountain Ski Area. Sugarloaf USA is only an hour away.

The area also offers a rich cultural history. The historic summer stock theater, Lakewood Theater, is located here. People used to get off the trolley from Skowhegan to Wesserunsett and walk to the theater to enjoy a show. Today, they don't ride the trolley, but they still enjoy shows. And during the theater's glory days, 9-hole Lakewood Golf Course was frequented by celebrities who came as summer stock for the theater. Now it is a par 72, 18-hole course.

Let Lake Wesserunsett be the location for your lakefront property. Fish from your dock or relax on your porch. Kayak at sunrise or spend the evening listening to the loons call to each other over the moonlit lake. Think theater, golf, fresh air and splendid scenery on the lakefront with no city traffic or sounds. If you are looking for a place to relax and recharge your life, look no further than Lake Wesserunsett.

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Lakewood Theater is open for its 110th summer season on the western shore of beautiful Lake Wesserunsett in Madison, Maine. The Lakewood Theater is a cultural gem known for providing quality shows to residents and visitors to the Belgrade Lakes Region.

In the summer theater tradition, during the early 1900s Lakewood Theater hosted Broadway and Hollywood stars, directors, playwrights and producers who were looking for other places to practice their craft when New York theaters closed for the season. Apparently, before the advent of air conditioning, theater folks left the city and established themselves in resort areas where the more mobile middle class took their annual vacations, thus providing an audience.

In its glory days, Lakewood Theater saw the likes of Gloria Swanson, Vincent Price, Lynn Redgrave, Milton Berle, Lana Turner, Robert Preston, Phyllis Diller, Maureen O'Sullivan, Imogene Coca and more. Dressing room walls, which sport some of their fading signatures, have been preserved. Actors would stay in cottages by the lake for a week as that's how long each show ran. On their last night at Lakewood, they'd be treated to a lobster feed.

The land surrounding Lakewood Theater was once a camp ground for the Kennebec Indian Tribe. In the late 1800s, an amusement park was built here. The current theater building was constructed in 1882 for the Madison Spiritualist Association. By 1899, Herbert L. Swett, a Bangor native and Bowdoin College graduate became manager of the amusement park and developed the property into an inn and theater. Between 1925 and 1941, this jewel of the Upper Kennebec Valley, was the major summer tryout for productions hoping to succeed on Broadway. A 1920s Chamber of Commerce brochure proclaimed "Plays which bear the stamp of Broadway approval." "Life with Father" premiered at Lakewood Theater in 1939.

The Maine Legislature designated Lakewood Theater as the State Theater of Maine in 1967. By the 1970s the Broadway casts stopped coming to Madison. After some ups and downs between 1970 and 1985, Jeffrey Quinn and the late Marti Stevens of The Cornville Players, the oldest community theater group in central Maine, were invited to stage their shows at Lakewood. They soon founded Curtains Up Enterprises, Inc. (CUE), a non-profit partnership, which maintains the facility and produces comedies, dramas, musicals and children's shows. Jeff Quinn is the general manager of CUE, which works to renovate and restore the theater building, including adding cabaret seating along the sides.

Today, Lakewood Theater's white facade and inside stage draws from a rich pool of local talent for shows produced from late May until mid-September. The 2010 season includes "Little Women," "Ring of Fire," "Shakespeare in Hollywood," "Gypsy," "Looking," "Dracula," and "Who's Under Where." Showtimes are Thursdays through Saturdays at 8 p.m., every other Sunday at 4 p.m. and matinees every other Wednesday at 2 and 7 p.m.

Before enjoying a show at Lakewood Theater, make some time to play golf at the Lakewood Golf Course and look at properties along the shore of Lake Wesserunsett. Then you can be assured of always enjoying the shows and everything else the Belgrade Lakes Region has to offer.

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The Embden Region is located north of the Belgrade Lakes and south of Moosehead, about 4 1/2 hours from Boston. This sparsely populated area is dotted with small lakes and ponds and offers lakefront properties in a variety of settings and price points.

The names of the prominent towns in this area - Bingham, Solon, Caratunk, Harmony, Athens, Guilford, and Monson - are not that well-known outside of Maine, reflecting the rural nature of this region. Similarly, the lakes and ponds are not household names either - Embden Pond, Great Moose Lake, Indian Pond, Piper Pond, Lake Hebron, Sebec Lake, Whetstone Pond, Pleasant Pond, Moxie Pond, Kingsbury Pond, and Manhanock Pond - but what they may lack in size and recognition they more than make up for in offering settings for properties that reflect the timelessness and serenity of rural Maine lakefront living.

The mighty Kennebec River courses through this area from north to south and the Appalachian Trail bisects the region from west to east, meandering its way to its terminus on top of Mount Katahdin, Maine's highest peak. There is ample opportunity for fishing, camping and canoeing or, if you're a little more adventurous, try one of the area white water rafting trips. Great downhill skiing is nearby, just to the west, at both Sugarloaf and Saddleback and there's unlimited opportunities for cross country skiing, snowshoeing, and snowmobiling.

Lakefront Locator will get you to available listings in the Embden Lakes Area. LakeSmart is a research tool that will give you important information about area lakes.

Remember, you can change the house but you can't change the location. So, do your homework! If you have a question or need a friend in the business let us know. We love Maine's lakes and ponds and want to share them with you.