Belgrade is a town in Kennebec County
, Maine
, United States
. The population was 2,978 at the
2000 census.
Belgrade's population,
however, approximately doubles during the summer months as
part-year residents return to seasonal camps located on the shores
of Great
Pond
, Long Pond and Messalonskee Lake. Belgrade
includes the villages of North Belgrade, Belgrade Depot and
Belgrade Lakes (or The Village).
History
The land was originally owned by the
Plymouth Company, from which inhabitants
obtained their titles.
Called Washington Plantation, it was first
settled in 1774 by Philip Snow from New Hampshire
. On February 3,
1796, it was incorporated as Belgrade, named
after Belgrade
, Serbia
. The
surface of the town is uneven, much of it covered by water in the
form of a connected chain of lakes.
The largest lake is Great Pond, which dominates the town. Agriculture became the chief occupation of the
inhabitants, with
potatoes the principal
crop.
Outlets of the ponds provided
water
power for
mills. In 1859, there was a
shovel factory and
spool factory, as well as several
sawmills and
gristmills. By
1886, there were also factories that made
rakes,
shingle,
excelsior,
scythes and boxes. With the arrival of the
railroad, Belgrade developed into a tourist resort
of
fishing,
boating
and lakeside cottages.
The Belgrade Hotel, designed by noted
Portland
architect John
Calvin Stevens, was built at Belgrade Lakes. The town
was an annual summertime destination for the writers
E.B. White and
Ernest Thompson. The latter's sojourns at
Great Pond inspired his 1979 play
On Golden Pond, which was made
into the
Academy Award–winning 1981
movie,
On Golden
Pond.
Notable residents
Geography
According to the
United
States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of
57.9 square miles (150.0 km²), of which, 43.2 square
miles (112.0 km²) of it is land and 14.7 square miles
(38.0 km²) of it (25.32%) is water. Belgrade is drained by the
Belgrade Stream.
The town is crossed by
11,
27, 135 and
225.
It borders the towns of Smithfield
to the northeast, Oakland
and Sidney
to the east, Manchester
and Readfield
to the south, Mount Vernon
to the southwest, and Rome
to the
northwest.
Demographics
As of the
census of 2000, there were 2,978
people, 1,178 households, and 876 families residing in the town.
The
population density was 68.9
people per square mile (26.6/km²). There were 2,007 housing units
at an average density of 46.4/sq mi (17.9/km²). The racial
makeup of the town was 98.69%
White, 0.10%
African American, 0.10%
Native American, 0.20%
Asian, 0.13%
Pacific Islander, 0.03% from
other races, and 0.74%
from two or more races.
Hispanic or
Latino of any race were 0.47% of the
population.
There were 1,178 households out of which 34.8% had children under
the age of 18 living with them, 62.7% were
married couples living together, 8.2% had a female
householder with no husband present, and 25.6% were non-families.
18.9% of all households were made up of individuals and 6.5% had
someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average
household size was 2.52 and the average family size was 2.89.
In the town the population was spread out with 25.3% under the age
of 18, 5.7% from 18 to 24, 30.0% from 25 to 44, 27.5% from 45 to
64, and 11.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was
40 years. For every 100 females there were 93.0 males. For every
100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.6 males.
The median income for a household in the town was $39,053, and the
median income for a family was $42,321. Males had a median income
of $32,226 versus $24,962 for females. The
per capita income for the town was
$20,407. About 8.4% of families and 9.6% of the population were
below the
poverty line, including 11.3%
of those under age 18 and 9.8% of those age 65 or over.
Economy
Belgrade is largely a
commuter town,
but there is also a lumber factory owned by Hammond Lumber which
provides around 80 jobs.
References
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