Peacock Beach State Park is a locally managed, public recreation area on Pleasant Pond in
Richmond, Maine
Richmond is a town in Sagadahoc County, Maine, United States. The population was 3,522 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Portland– South Portland–Biddeford, Maine metropolitan statistical area, situated at the head of Merrymeetin ...
. The park is on
U.S. Route 201
U.S. Route 201 (US 201) is part of the nationwide system of United States Numbered Highways. It runs for entirely within the state of Maine and is a spur route of U.S. Route 1. Its southern terminus is in Brunswick at US 1 and Maine State Rou ...
[ between the ]Maine Turnpike
Interstate 95 (I-95) in the US state of Maine is a highway running from the New Hampshire state line in Kittery, to the Canadian border in Houlton. It is the only two-digit Interstate Highway in Maine. In 2004, the highway's route between Por ...
(I-95) and I-295 Interstate 295 is the designation for several Interstate Highways in the United States:
*Interstate 295 (Delaware–Pennsylvania), a bypass of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
*Interstate 295 (Florida), a beltway around central Jacksonville
*Interstate 29 ...
, about south of Augusta. The Town of Richmond took over operation of the park in 2010.[ The park offers facilities for picnicking and swimming.][
]
History
It cost the state around $23,000 a year to operate the park. It was not regularly staffed, and the entrance fee was collected with a box at the gate that visitors were expected to place their fee into. Prior to 2010, it had been estimated that as few as 10 percent of visitors paid the fee.
In 2010, the state decided not to open the park as a cost-saving measure and offered a 25-year lease to the Town of Richmond to operate the park. The town accepted the offer at its June 3, 2010 town meeting. The town does not staff the park, aside from conducting regular maintenance with part-time employees. The collection box for payment of the entry fee has been maintained, but the town has considered staffing the entrance to increase fee collection.
References
External links
Peacock Beach
Town of Richmond
{{Protected Areas of Maine
Beaches of Maine
Protected areas of Kennebec County, Maine
Landforms of Kennebec County, Maine
State parks of Maine