Waterboro

What’s in a name? In the case of the rustic Maine village of Waterboro, it turns out there’s quite a lot.

This small, rustic, aptly named town is home to a ton of lakes. It has ponds, like Lake Sherburne and the Northwest Pond, all over town. But its big selling point is Little Ossipee Lake, a popular gathering spot that people flock to all year long.

Waterboro is a peaceful, rural lakeside town that’s close enough to grocery stores, amenities and even the city of Portland, but far enough away where the only sound you’ll hear is silence.

“It’s always been a friendly kind of close-knit community,” says Joyce Veroneau, Realtor with Coldwell Banker Realty in nearby Kennebunk.

Here, you’ll find a mixture of lakeside properties and giant rural lots where houses are spread far apart from one another. Most of the houses were built in the 20th century, says Veroneau, but there’s also a fair amount of new construction.

You’ll see wood-sided, open concept waterfront homes for $900,000, tiny conventional cottages near the water for $450,000, 4,800-square-foot Cape Cods on 11 acres of land for $800,000, apartments on 10 acre lots for $200,000 and ranch-style houses built in 2018 for $400,000. Here, you can really, truly hide away from the world, if that’s your wish.

The town shares the Lake Arrowhead Community subdivision with the nearby town of Limerick. Houses are much closer together in Lake Arrowhead than they are in the rest of Waterboro, and residents can take advantage of its clubhouses and community events, like boat parades and ice cream socials.

The town’s main attraction, Little Ossipee Lake, is a 557-acre lagoon that is a one-stop shop for all different types of waterfront activities. You can jump in the water and swim from Bob Fay Memorial Park or launch your motorized boat from Gobeil Park on Route 5. Fishing is also allowed -- you can catch trout, large and small-mouth bass, pickerel and more depending on the time of year, and there’s also a campground. It’s lively in the summer, but people also go ice-fishing at the lake in the winter, Veroneau says.

“For some of the people who live on the water, that might be their vacation home, but people don’t have a second home in Waterboro unless it’s on the water,” she says.

When the temperature drops, a certain subsection of Waterboro comes to life. Since 1974, the town has been home to the Ossipee Mountaineers Snowmobile Club, an organization that works with property owners to maintain a more than 40-mile snowmobile trail system in town. The club meets on the first Saturday of every month from September to about April, and new members are always welcome.

Once a year on a Sunday in March, Mainers across the state come together to celebrate one of its greatest exports – maple syrup. On Maple Syrup Sunday, as it’s called, syrup producers host gatherings for their communities where people can sample the syrup, eat sweets, play games and more. Maple House Farm in Waterboro is a participant in the event, and offered its syrup, homemade vanilla extract, maple treats and homemade bread to the community in 2023.

There’s no downtown district in Waterboro, and there are no mom-and-pop stores, says Veroneau. But you will find convenience stores, a handful of restaurants and XOTA Brewing Co., which makes pale ales, Irish stouts, red ales and sour beers, plus more.

Children in Waterboro can attend school through Regional School Unit 57, which serves Waterboro as well as Alfred, Shapleigh, Lyman, Limerick and Newfield. The school district teaches about 3,000 kids in prekindergarten through 12th grade.

You can pick up Route 202 in Waterboro, which runs south to the New Hampshire border and north to Augusta and beyond. It’s a 40-minute drive to Portland, so commuting into the city is doable.

This town by any other name would be just as sweet. But Waterboro is the perfect name for this waterside community.

Written By

Laura Finaldi

Photography Contributed By

Jeff Tippett

Video By

Edward Pokoj