Ossipee is a town located in Eastern New Hampshire in the Lakes region of the state. It is situated in the Southern part of Carroll County and encompasses a total area of 75.6 square miles, 4.8 of which is water. As of the 2010 United States Census, Ossipee was home to 4,345 people.
Ossipee was first known as Wigwam Village and, later on, as New Garden. Eventually, it took on the name Ossipee, after the Ossipee Indians local to the area. In 1785, the town was officially incorporated. In its early years, Ossipee saw booming produce, lumber and cattle industries. The town was home to 12 sawmills, five gristmills, 12 clapboard and shingle mills and a number of other factories and businesses. In 1871, the Portsmouth, Great Falls & Conway Railroad expanded to reach the town, though it was discontinued for use in 1972.
More than 6 percent of Ossipee’s total area is made up of water. It includes the 3,091 acre Ossipee Lake and parts of the Ossipee River, Pine River, Beech River, Bearcamp River, Lovell River and Ossipee Lake. Its highest point is located at a ridge in the Ossipee Mountains, where elevation reaches 2,080 feet above sea level. Over the years, the town has been home to a number of notable people, including Missing Persons singer Dale Bozzio, U.S. Senator Fred H. Brown, poet John Greenleaf Whittier and U.S. Congressmen Chester Earl Merrow and William B. Small. It is also home to a number of well-known sites, including the Ossipee Pine Barrens and the Ossipee Historical Society Museum.
The town of Ossipee is governed by an elected Board of Selectmen. It boasts a full-time police department, a full-time and volunteer fire department and municipal and volunteer emergency medical services. Top employers in the area include Carroll County Government, Hannaford Brothers, McDonald’s, Ossipee Aggregates Corporation, Tufpak Inc., Valueland IGA, Job Lots, Carroll County Courthouse, Town of Ossipee and Northern Tire.
Children in the area attend schools in the Governor Wentworth Regional School District, which also serves the nearby towns of Brookfield, Effingham, New Durham, Tuftonboro and Wolfeboro. For recreation and entertainment, residents of Ossipee can enjoy the town’s municipal parks, golf courses, tennis courts, youth organizations, sports leagues, campgrounds, fishing and hunting areas, snowmobile trails, boating marinas and local beaches.