The attractiveness of the lakes makes it easy to see why the town has one of the largest concentrations of summer camps for children in all of Maine. It was soon apparent that the town's tumbling Messalonskee Stream would draw industries to take advantage of this considerable source of water power. Cascade Woolen Mill, established that same year in fact, remains one of the town's largest employers. A front runner in recognizing environmental issues, Oakland was one of the first towns in the state to build a municipal sewerage treatment facility. Among attractions is the Memorial Hall on Church Street, built by Civil War veterans, and the Octagon House on Summer Street at the northerly end of Messalonskee Lake.
Private homes range from stately New England classics to cape and ranch homes.
Oakland is a beautiful place to reside and raise a family. The town has a reputation for some of the finer schools in the entire state and for its fiscally conservative municipal government. Preparing for the future, Oakland has a comprehensive plan to promote organized development, including its municipal business park. The town of Belgrade was incorporated in 1796 as the 102nd town of the Province of Maine in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The name was chosen by John Vassal Davis, who admired Belgrade, Yugoslavia, when he visited there as a representative of the East India Company.