The Old Port (sometimes known as the Old Port Exchange) is a district of Portland, Maine, known for its cobblestone streets, 19th-century brick buildings and fishing piers. The district contains boutiques, restaurants and bars.
The Old Port (sometimes known as the Old Port Exchange) is a district of Portland, Maine, known for its cobblestone streets, 19th-century brick buildings and fishing piers. The district contains boutiques, restaurants and bars.
The Old Port district is located on the southeastern side of the Portland peninsula, overlooking the wide mouth of the Fore River and the Port of Portland. It is bounded on the east by Franklin Street (U.S. Route 1A), with Commercial Street running southwest along the waterfront, and 19th-century buildings on its north side as far west as Maple Street. It extends inland as far as Federal Street, between Pearl and Temple Streets, with Fore and Middle Streets as major cross streets that very roughly parallel the waterfront. The shore area on the southeast side of commercial street is lined with wharves. [1] It is bordered by the neighborhoods of Bayside, East Bayside, Munjoy Hill and the West End.
A large portion of this area has been designated a historic district, and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as the "Portland Waterfront Historic District". [2]
The Old Port includes the adjacent parks of Post Office Park and Tommy's Park, which features a large mural. Bell Buoy Park is located next to the Casco Bay Ferry Terminal. The Eastern Promenade Trail terminates in the Old Port and connects to the East End Beach.
Post Office Park is located at the northeastern corner of the intersection of Middle Street and Exchange Street. Its official address is Middle Street. [3] It stands across Exchange Street from the slightly smaller Tommy's Park.
Portland's Post Office, designed by Alfred B. Mullett, stood at the location from 1871 to 1965, [4] when it was demolished and replaced by a parking lot. [5] In the 1980s, the City of Portland considered building a Japanese theme park on the lot, but—due to a recession—it did not come to fruition; instead Post Office Park was built, completed in 1993. [6]
Tommy's Park is located at the northwestern corner of the intersection of Middle Street and Exchange Street. Its official address is Middle Street. [7] It stands across Exchange Street from the slightly larger Post Office Park. The lot was formerly home to a one-storey structure connected to both the Oxford Building at 185 Middle Street and 80 Exchange Street. [8] A prominent feature of the park was a trompe l'oeil mural painted on the gable end of 80 Exchange Street. The second mural at the location, [9] it was designed and painted in 1986 by local artist Chris Denison. It was removed during building restoration work in 2018, and was repainted to a design by South Portland artist Will Sears. [10] [11] The park contains the city's visitor-information booth. [12] [11]
Between and 1983 and 2021, Mark Gatti operated his Mark's Hot Dogs stand in the park. [13] [14] [15] [16] Tommy's Park is mentioned in The Killing Kind, a 2015 novel by John Connolly. [17]
The Portland peninsula was first settled in the 17th century, but was abandoned during the French and Indian Wars of the late 17th and early 18th centuries. It was resettled, and incorporated as Falmouth in 1718. It prospered economically in the 18th century due to the lumber trade, particularly the trade in virgin trees used as ship masts. At the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War, a large part of the city was destroyed by fire in a British raid in October 1775. The city rebuilt, and again became a major shipping center and Maine's leading port and economic center. Commercial Street was created by fill in the 1850s, and Middle and Exchanges Street area developed as a major commercial district. In 1866, a major fire swept through the area, bringing on a wave of new construction. [18]
Historically, Exchange Street was where many printers and newspapers were located. At the top of Exchange Street, strategically located across Congress Street from Portland City Hall, is the Press Herald Building built in 1923 and expanded in 1948 as the headquarters of the Portland Press Herald. In 2015, the renovated building became the Press Hotel. [19]
The Old Port was transformed in the 1970s when real estate developers purchased derelict buildings and refurbished them into apartments, condos, offices and retail space. A new group of restaurants emerged that included The Hollow Reed on Fore Street that are cited for influencing the city's current restaurant culture. [20] During that same decade, the Old Port Association formed and helped halt the city's demolition of historic buildings (see Union Station) and lobbied for street scape improvements. The Cumberland County Civic Center was built at the top of the Old Port in 1977. In the early 1980s, Congress passed the Economic Recovery Tax Act, which provided tax incentives for redevelopment projects, and spurred further development in the district. [21]
In 2006, construction began on the Ocean Gateway project. The Ocean Gateway serves as the city's cruise ship terminal.
The Old Port Festival was a yearly one-day festival which took place in the neighborhood. For the first 36 years (1973–2009), it took place on the first Sunday in June; however, noting weather patterns which consistently brought rain storms on that day, organizers moved the festival to the second Sunday in June 2010, avoiding heavy rain. [22] In 2009, festival organizers sought to create the world's largest lobster roll as part of the festival. It included 48 pounds (22 kg) of lobster meat and 4 gallons of mayonnaise. It measured 61 feet and 9.5 inches long. Pieces of the roll were sold to benefit a youth association. [23] In 1998, the event included children games, including a petting zoo and miniature golf. [24] In June 2019, the final Old Port Festival occurred, though some area business owners sought to continue the event. [25]
Portland is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maine and the seat of Cumberland County. Portland's population was 68,408 in April 2020. The Greater Portland metropolitan area has a population of approximately 550,000 people. Historically tied to commercial shipping, the marine economy, and light industry, Portland's economy in the 21st century relies mostly on the service sector. The Port of Portland is the second-largest tonnage seaport in the New England area as of 2019.
South Portland is a city in Cumberland County, Maine, United States, and is the fourth-most populous city in the state, incorporated in 1898. At the 2020 census, the city population was 26,498. Known for its working waterfront, South Portland is situated on Portland Harbor and overlooks the skyline of Portland and the islands of Casco Bay. Due to South Portland's close proximity to air, marine, rail, and highway transportation options, the city has become a center for retail and industry in the region. The Maine Mall, the largest shopping mall in the state, is located in South Portland.
Exchange Street is a main commercial thoroughfare in the Old Port of Portland, Maine, United States. Originally laid out in 1724, today it features a number of designer clothing stores, as well as several small, locally owned businesses, including Sherman's Maine Coast Books. It runs, one-way, for around 0.24 miles (0.39 km), from Congress Street in the northwest to Fore Street in the southeast. Its main intersections are with Congress Street, Federal Street, Middle Street and Fore Street.
Munjoy Hill is a neighborhood and prominent geographical feature of Portland, Maine. It is located east of downtown and south of East Deering, the neighborhood via Tukey's Bridge. In the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, the neighborhood had a large Irish and Italian American population.
The Portland Company was established 10 November 1846 by John A. Poor and Norris Locomotive Works engineer Septimus Norris as a locomotive foundry to build railroad equipment for the adjacent Portland terminus of the Atlantic and St. Lawrence Railroad connection between Portland, Maine, and Montreal. The shops opened for business in October, 1847. Its first locomotive, the Augusta, emerged from the shops in July 1848 for delivery to the Portland, Saco & Portsmouth. Over the next several decades, the Company produced in its Fore Street facilities over 600 steam locomotives as well as 160 merchant and naval vessels, railcars, construction equipment, Knox automobiles, and the like. Portland Company built the engines of the civil war side-wheel gunboats Agawam and Pontoosuc. Taking into account its other products, the Company could lay claim to being one of the leading medium-to-heavy steel manufacturers in New England. The company ceased production in 1978.
The History of Portland, Maine, begins when Native Americans originally called the Portland peninsula Məkíhkanək meaning "At the fish hook" in Penobscot and Machigonne in Algonquian. The peninsula and surrounding areas was home to members of the Algonquian-speaking Aucocisco branch of the Eastern Abenaki tribe who were forcibly relocated to current day Canada during European settlement.
This is a list of the National Register of Historic Places listings in York County, Maine.
This is a list of the National Register of Historic Places listings in Portland, Maine.
Portland, Maine, is home to many neighborhoods.
Commercial Street is a downtown street in the Old Port of Portland, Maine, United States. It is part of U.S. Route 1A. It became the Old Port's waterfront in the early 20th century, replacing Fore Street, after land was reclaimed from the waters of Casco Bay and the Fore River.
Monument Square is a town square in downtown Portland, Maine, about halfway between the East Bayside and Old Port neighborhoods. The Time and Temperature Building, Fidelity Trust Building, and the main branch of the Portland Public Library are on Congress Street, across from the square, while One Monument Square and One City Center are among the buildings on the square itself.
Franklin Street is a four-lane street in Portland, Maine, United States. It is a major corridor for traffic from Interstate 295 to Portland's downtown, Old Port, and to other neighborhoods located on the Portland peninsula. Part of U.S. Route 1A, it is around 0.77 miles (1.24 km) long, running between Marginal Way in the northwest and Commercial Street in the southeast.
Congress Street is the main street in Portland, Maine. Around 5.77 miles (9.29 km) long, it stretches from County Road, Portland's southwestern border with Westbrook, through a number of neighborhoods, before ending overlooking the Eastern Promenade on Munjoy Hill. In March 2009, the Portland City Council designated much of the inner portion of Congress Street a historic district. The western section of the street includes the city's Arts District.
Forest Avenue is a major street in Portland, Maine, United States. It runs for around 4.78 miles (7.69 km), from Bridgton Road in the northwest to Congress Street, in downtown Portland, in the southeast. It is the main artery for traffic entering and leaving Portland to and from the west via city streets. Forest Avenue passes to the south of Back Cove, while Washington Avenue passes to its north. The street ends in Portland's Arts District.
Naito Parkway is a major thoroughfare of Portland in the U.S. state of Oregon. It was formerly known as Front Avenue and Front Street and was renamed in 1996 to honor Bill Naito. It runs between SW Barbur Boulevard and NW Front Avenue, and adjacent to Tom McCall Waterfront Park through Downtown Portland.
MaineWharf is a historic wharf in Portland, Maine. It is located on Commercial Street, between Franklin Street and Pearl Street, on the edge of the Fore River. On the waterfront side, it is situated between Maine State Pier and Custom House Wharf.
Fore Street is a downtown street in Portland, Maine, United States. Dating to 1724, it runs for around 1 mile (1.6 km), from the Eastern Promenade on Munjoy Hill in the northeast to Pleasant Street in the southwest. Near its midsection, Fore Street crosses Franklin Street. It splits briefly at Boothby Square, shortly after passing the United States Custom House. The street passes through the Old Port district.
Middle Street is a downtown street in Portland, Maine, United States. Dating to 1724, it runs for around 0.46 miles (0.74 km), from an intersection with Union Street, Spring Street and Temple Street in the southwest, to Hancock Street, at the foot of Munjoy Hill, in the northeast. It formerly originated at what was then known as Market Square, but 20th-century redevelopment saw the section between Monument Square and Free Street pedestrianized, and the remaining section—around The Maine Lobsterman monument on Temple Street—erased.
India Street is a downtown street and neighborhood in Portland, Maine, United States. Situated near the western foot of Munjoy Hill, it runs for around 0.28 miles (0.45 km), from Congress Street in the northwest to Commercial Street and Thames Street in the southeast. It was the city's first street, and the location of the first settlement of European immigrants to the city in the 17th century. There are thirty handmade bricks in the sidewalk commemorating the neighborhood's notable events. In 1680, when Thomas Danforth was Deputy Governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, the street was known as Broad Street. After the incorporation of the Town of Falmouth in 1718, the street was known as High King Street.
Federal Street is a historic downtown street in Portland, Maine, United States. It runs for around 0.56 miles (0.90 km), from Monument Square, in the southwest to Mountfort Street, at the foot of Munjoy Hill, in the northeast. Its middle section was wiped out by the widening of Franklin Street in 1967.
