Sebago Lake

Sebago Lake lies in the forested interior of present-day Maine. Its outlet, the Presumpscot River, and the waters connected to its north formed part of a route between the coast and inland country. Abenaki and neighboring Indigenous communities traveled through this wider region, using waterways and portages to reach fishing, hunting and gathering places.

European colonial expansion brought disease, warfare and pressure on Indigenous lands across the region. The lake and rivers also drew settlers inland. In 1832 the Cumberland and Oxford Canal linked Sebago Lake to Portland harbor, extending the water route toward Atlantic trade. The canal was a late addition to a landscape whose waterways had long served other communities and purposes.