Jon Whitney

From the 1900s to the late 1960s lakefront property owners from away chose to build camps rather than year round homes. Camps are seasonal structures constructed to be used in the "good " weather from Memorial Day to Labor Day. What differentiates a camp from a house is that camps lack one or more of the following attributes found in houses: a well, a foundation, central heat, insulation and/or a proper septic system.

In the old days folks thought it was foolish to spend a lot of money on a place one would use for 3 months a year. Back then the thought of coming up to Maine in the winter was a ridiculous notion. How come? In a word, Accessibility.

Prior to the construction of I-95 and the Maine Turnpike the journey from the Boston area to the lakes regions here in Maine wasn't the painless 2.5 hour trip it is today. It was more like a painful 4 hour adventure. The traffic on US 1, still a 2 lane road in the 50s, backed up for miles on weekends causing cars to overheat.

I can remember it like yesterday. A Saturday afternoon in mid summer 1955. My Dad's 1951 Desoto station wagon, a handsome "woodie", broken down along the side of the road suffering from a mysterious condition called "vapor lock". I asked Dad "what's vapor lock ?" and he told me that it had something to do with the carburetor. My Dad and I didn't have much in common except for our total lack of interest in the internal combustion engine.

Better roads allowed lakefront homeowners easier access to their lakefront homes. Only the camps were small and were not suitable for winter use. That changed in a hurry as folks dug or drilled wells for year round water. Insulation, foundations, central heat, upgraded septics were all added to camps turning them into year round homes.

After 1970 builders stopped building the seasonal dwellings Mainers call camps. From then on, all new lakefront construction was to consist of the building of houses not camps. This marked an end of an era. The end of the Maine Sporting camp.

Contributed by Tom Ferent at MrLakefront

Stretching from the Maine Turnpike in the east to the New Hampshire border in the west and from the Standish/Cornish area in the south to the Sunday River/Bethel area in the north, the Greater Sebago Lakes Region offers a complete package to vacationers and relocators alike - a multitude of lakes and ponds, a variety of amenities and attractions, and easy accessibility from the Boston area and points south.

For over one hundred years the Greater Sebago Lakes Region has been the premier destination for those who want to enjoy clean recreational water, lake and mountain vistas, and four season fun in Maine.

The lakes and ponds in this region come in all shapes and sizes. More than fifty have a surface area over 100 acres. From the quaintness of Coffee Pond at 106 acres to the mighty Sebago at over 30,000 acres, this region has a body of water to fit every criteria.

The main attraction is Sebago Lake, with its great size and depth, and its two sisters, Brandy Pond and Long Lake. These interconnected bodies of water form our own version of an inland waterway stretching 35 miles from Harrison at the north end of Long Lake to Standish at the southern end of Sebago Lake. In between are the 11 miles of Long Lake, the Naples Causeway with its swing bridge, Brandy Pond and the Songo River, the old wooden locks on the Songo and, finally, entry into the northern portion of Sebago Lake. This stretch of water provides some of the best recreational boating that Maine has to offer.

Other notable lakes in the area include Thompson Lake in Otisfield, Poland and Oxford, Kezar Lake in Lovell, Highland Lake and Moose Pond in Bridgton, Pleasant Lake in Casco and Otisfield, and Panther Pond in Raymond.

Aside from the water related activities, the Greater Sebago Lake Region offers a wide variety of other things to do depending on the season including golf, skiing, snowmobiling, hiking, hunting, horseback riding, antiquing, summer theater, historic house tours, museums, and shopping. There are many interesting places to stay in the area with an especially good selection of B&Bs. Area cuisine runs the gamut from the very modest to dining at its very best. The city of Portland, Maine's largest city, is an hour or less away providing an assortment of cultural and entertainment activities as well as historic buildings to tour and some of the best restaurants in the country. Portland also serves as the gateway to the Casco Bay Islands and the Maine seacoast. The White Mountains of New Hampshire are just to the west with North Conway, a mecca for outlet shoppers, acting as the entry point to all that this nearby region has to offer.

Lakefront Locator will get you to available listings in the Sebago 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.

Visit us at www.mrlakefront.net

A recent hearing conducted by the Maine Department of Transportation on the viability of a new, fixed bridge proposal struck fear in the hearts of several business people in the Naples area.

The old swing bridge that spans the waterway that joins Long Lake to Brandy Pond needs replacing. An original estimate of $11 million to replace it had been seen as "doable", but now that cost estimate has ballooned to $18 million - an amount the state doesn't have. A proposal for a fixed bridge, at a cost of $8 million, would fit the DOT budget, but has many critics and detractors in the Lakes Region area.

Local marina owners, the owner of the Songo River Queen, and other area business people all voiced their concerns at the recent hearing citing history, local economics, and image as reasons for not favoring the fixed bridge route.

A fixed bridge would limit the amount of boat traffic that could navigate the full extent of the 45 mile waterway that connects Harrison, in the north, with Standish, in the south. Boaters have travelled that distance - by way of Long Lake, Brandy Pond, the Songo River, through the Songo Lock, then into Sebago Lake - since 1830.

You can read the full text of the article here, then stay tuned for new reports as this story develops.

Although smaller in size than the neighboring Sebago Region to the north, the Sanford area features several fine lakes and ponds. Here's a quick travelogue sampling.

Heading northwest from downtown Sanford/Springvale on Routes 109/11 you soon will come to a large fork. I first came to this fork fifty years ago and still get goose bumps as I view the length of Mousam Lake. The right fork, Route 11, will take you to Shapleigh, North Shapleigh and on to Newfield. Along the way you'll travel along the east shore of Mousam Lake and Square Pond. These two lakes rank high on the list of the area's finer lakes. The left fork, Route 109, will take you to Acton, the home of the Acton Fair. Here you'll find Wilson Lake and the magnificent Great East Lake which sprawls over the border into New Hampshire.

Leaving Sanford on US 202 takes one north to Alfred. In Alfred you'll come to the intersection of US 202 and Route 111. If one proceeds North on US 202 you will enter Waterboro. Taking Route 5 will take you by Little Ossipee Lake, a true gem of a lake. From Alfred one can head east to Lyman on Route 111. Route 111 forms the southern boundary of an area in Lyman that contains a group of small, but lovely, ponds - Bunganut, Kennebunk, and Wadley to name a few.

Directly west of Sanford is West Lebanon and beautiful Northeast Pond which we share with our friends in New Hampshire. Directly east of Sanford you'll find Estes Lake. As we mentioned, all of lakes are a short drive from Boston and within easy reach of the Maine Turnpike.

If you are interested in taking a closer look at lakefront property in the Sanford area, try our search feature, Lakefront Locator. You can search by town, lake, lake size, and price and see all the current listings.