Shapleigh is a town in York County, settled in 1772 and incorporated on March 5, 1785 from Shapleigh Plantation.
It swapped land with Shapleigh (1787, 1820), with Lebanon (1793, 1825), and with Acton (1830, 1831). Finally, it ceded land to Newfield in 1846 and annexed land from Waterborough in 1854 to complete its modern boundaries.
Named for Nicholas Shapleigh, a landowner, the town is bordered on the west by Square Lake and Mousam Lake. Maine Route 11 moves up from Sanford through the villages of Emery Mills Shapleigh and North Shapleigh near the lake shores.
The Shapleigh Woods, managed by The Nature Conservancy, is a 265-acre preserve that ensures protection for one of the world's largest known populations of the federally endangered small whorled begonia.
