Ossipee, New Hampshire

Ossipee is a town in Carroll County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 4,345 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Carroll County. Ossipee, which includes several villages, is a resort area and home to part of Pine River State Forest.

History

Originally known as Wigwam Village, and then New Garden, the town was named for the Ossipee Indians, one of the twelve Algonquian tribes. It was once the site of an Indian stockade fort, designed to protect the tribe from the Mohawks in the west. In 1725, the Indian stockade was destroyed, and then rebuilt by Captain John Lovewell. The new fort was one of the largest in New England. On February 22, 1785, the legislature incorporated Ossipee as a town.

Although the surface of the town is "rough and uneven, and in some parts rocky and mountainous," farmers found it suitable for pasturage, as well as for cultivating wheat and potatoes. Principal goods were produce, lumber and cattle. In 1859, when the population was 2,123, Ossipee contained twelve sawmills, five gristmills, twelve clapboard and shingle mills, one bedstead factory, one door factory, a sash and blind factory, one paper mill and four tanneries. The Portsmouth, Great Falls & Conway Railroad in 1871 reached Ossipee Corner, with service extended in 1875 to Center Ossipee. The trains brought commerce and tourists, helping the town develop as a summer resort. Railroad service, however, would be discontinued in 1961 for passengers, and in 1972 for freight.

Ossipee Lake

Ossipee Lake is located in Carroll County in eastern New Hampshire, in the communities of Ossipee and Freedom. At 3,257 acres (1,318 ha), it is the sixth-largest lake located entirely in New Hampshire. The lake is fed by the West Branch (entering from the north), the Bearcamp and Lovell rivers (entering from the west), and the Pine River (from the south). Water leaves the eastern end of the lake via the Ossipee River, flowing to the Saco River in Maine.

Ossipee Lake is a popular vacation site. The land surrounding the lake is home to numerous condo, cabin, and lake house developments. As in most lakes regions, some buildings are available for vacation rentals, and many of the developments have private beaches.

The lake is classified as a cold- and warmwater fishery, with observed species including rainbow trout, lake trout, land-locked salmon, smallmouth and largemouth bass, chain pickerel, yellow perch, white perch, sunfish, and brown bullhead.

See also

New Hampshire

New Hampshire (US ⁱ/nuːˈhæmpʃər/) is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Atlantic Ocean to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec to the north. New Hampshire is the 5th smallest by land area and the 9th least populous of the 50 United States.

In January 1776 it became the first of the British North American colonies to establish a government independent of the Kingdom of Great Britain's authority and it was the first to establish its own state constitution. Six months later, it became one of the original 13 states that founded the United States of America, and in June 1788 it was the ninth state to ratify the Constitution, bringing that document into effect.

Concord is the state capital, while Manchester is the largest city in the state. It has no general sales tax, nor is personal income (other than interest and dividends) taxed at either the state or local level. It is known for the New Hampshire primary, the first primary in the U.S. presidential election cycle. Its license plates carry the state motto, "Live Free or Die". The motto comes from a statement written by the Revolutionary War general John Stark, hero of the Battle of Bennington. The state's nickname, "The Granite State", refers to its extensive granite formations and quarries.

Lake

A lake is an area of variable size filled with water, localized in a basin, that is surrounded by land, apart from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean (except for sea lochs in Scotland and Ireland), and therefore are distinct from lagoons, and are also larger and deeper than ponds, though there are no official or scientific definitions. Lakes can be contrasted with rivers or streams, which are usually flowing. However most lakes are fed and drained by rivers and streams.

Natural lakes are generally found in mountainous areas, rift zones, and areas with ongoing glaciation. Other lakes are found in endorheic basins or along the courses of mature rivers. In some parts of the world there are many lakes because of chaotic drainage patterns left over from the last Ice Age. All lakes are temporary over geologic time scales, as they will slowly fill in with sediments or spill out of the basin containing them.

Many lakes are artificial and are constructed for industrial or agricultural use, for hydro-electric power generation or domestic water supply, or for aesthetic or recreational purposes.

Camp Ossipee

Camp Ossipee is a historic summer camp in Holderness, New Hampshire. Located on Porter Road on the shores of Squam Lake, it consists of two adjacent family camps owned by the Porter and Hurd families. The older of the two camps was built in 1902, and features an electric railroad to bring supplies to the camp from the road.

The camp was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2012.

See also

References