Portland Observatory | |
Location | 138 Congress St Portland, Maine |
---|---|
Coordinates | 43°39′55″N70°14′54″W / 43.66528°N 70.24833°W |
Area | less than one acre |
Built | 1807 |
NRHP reference No. | 73000122 |
Significant dates | |
Added to NRHP | April 24, 1973 |
Designated NHL | February 17, 2006 |
The Portland Observatory is a historic maritime signal tower at 138 Congress Street in the Munjoy Hill section of Portland, Maine. Built in 1807, it is the only known surviving tower of its type in the United States. Using both a telescope and signal flags, two-way communication between ship and shore was possible several hours before an incoming vessel reached the docks. The tower was designated a National Historic Landmark and a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark in 2006; it is now managed by Greater Portland Landmarks, a local historic preservation nonprofit. It is open to the public as a museum.
Portland has a deep harbor sheltered by numerous islands. Ships entering the harbor are not directly visible from the wharfs, which created problems for merchants trying to prepare for the arrival of cargoes. This problem was solved in 1807 when Captain Lemuel Moody [1] organized the construction of an observatory on Portland's Munjoy Hill, visible from both the open ocean and the wharfs. During the War of 1812, the observatory was used as a watch tower.
The 86-foot (26 m) tall observatory (7 stories) is octagonal (to lessen wind pressure on each side) and lighthouse-shaped, with a fieldstone base of heavy loose rocks, and stands 222 feet (68 m) above sea level. There is no basement but the rock ballast in the bottom floor and octagonal design have kept the structure steady during storms. The observatory's 'lantern' (cupola) included a P & J Dollond Achromatic Refracting Telescope, which could identify ships 30 miles (48 km) to sea. That telescope disappeared from the observatory in 1939.
The observatory has been renovated numerous times over the years, including a Works Progress Administration renovation in 1939. It was most recently renovated from 1998–2000 to repair damage from moisture and powderpost beetles. This renovation won a 2001 National Preservation Honor Award from the National Trust for Historic Preservation. The center column was not an original feature, and was added in the 1939 renovation. In 2014 additional repairs to the windows and shingles were underway.
The observatory was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1972. In 2006, the observatory was made a National Historic Landmark and a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark. [2] [3]
The Portland Observatory is the only remaining maritime signal station in the United States. Tower operations were paid with annual fees collected from shipping merchants, who purchased the right to have their flags stored in the building and hoisted up its flagstaffs when their ships were sighted. A telephone was eventually installed, extending the tower's function until 1923, when the reliability of engine powered vessels and communication by radio made it obsolete.
In 1937 the tower was turned over to the city. Between the time of its closure and the 1990s, the building was often unlocked and popular among area children. Some older area residents have fond memories of playing in the building and the initials some of them carved into the wood are still visible. The latest major restoration left as much of the original wood as possible in place. This is distinguished by its dark stain while the replacement wood was left its original lighter color.
Greater Portland Landmarks, a non-profit organization, maintains the building. Guided tours with discussion about the history of the building and the neighborhood are provided by volunteer docents from Memorial Day to Columbus Day for a small fee. On very clear days the view from the cupola's balcony extends from the seaward horizon as far inland as Mount Washington.
Portland Head Light is a historic lighthouse in Cape Elizabeth, Maine. The light station sits on a head of land at the entrance of the primary shipping channel into Portland Harbor, which is within Casco Bay in the Gulf of Maine. Completed in 1791, it is the oldest lighthouse in Maine. The light station is automated, and the tower, beacon, and foghorn are maintained by the United States Coast Guard, while the former lighthouse keepers' house is a maritime museum within Fort Williams Park.
Mather Tower is a Neo-Gothic, terra cotta-clad high-rise structure in Chicago, Illinois, United States. It is located at 75 East Wacker Drive in the downtown "loop" area, adjacent to the Chicago River.
Munjoy Hill is both a neighborhood and prominent geographical feature of Portland, Maine. It is located east of downtown and south of East Deering, the neighborhood it is connected to by Tukey's Bridge. The neighborhood historically had a large Irish and Italian American population.
The University of Illinois Astronomical Observatory, located at 901 S. Mathews Avenue in Urbana, Illinois, on the campus of the University of Illinois Urbana–Champaign, was built in 1896, and was designed by Charles A. Gunn. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on November 6, 1986, and on December 20, 1989, was designated a National Historic Landmark.
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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.
Eastern Cemetery is a historic cemetery at the intersection of Washington Avenue and Congress Street in the Munjoy Hill neighborhood of Portland, Maine. Established in 1668, it is the city's oldest historic site. It has more than 4,000 marked graves with an estimated further 3,000 burials in unmarked plots. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973.
The Hill Arts or St. Lawrence Arts Center is a performing arts center and community space at 76 Congress Street in the Munjoy Hill district of Portland, Maine. It is located in the former parish hall of the former St. Lawrence Church, a historic Romanesque church that was built in 1897. In 2008, due to severe deterioration, the sanctuary of the former church was razed and the organization began planning to create a performance arts space where the sanctuary stood. The church property was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979.
The Union Church, now Phillips Congregational Church, is a historic church on Main and Pleasant Streets in Phillips, Maine. Built in 1835, this Greek Revival church is the oldest religious building in the small community, and a distinctive local landmark. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1989.
The Samuel May Williams House is a former museum in Galveston, Texas. The second-oldest surviving residence in Galveston, it is now on the National Register of Historic Places. It was designated a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark in 1964.
Portland, Maine, is home to many neighborhoods.
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.
The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Portland, Maine, USA.
The Daniel S. Schanck Observatory is an historical astronomical observatory on the Queens Campus of Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey, United States, and is tied for the seventh oldest observatory in the US alongside the Vassar College Observatory. It is located on George Street near the corner with Hamilton Street, opposite the parking lot adjacent to Kirkpatrick Chapel, and to the northeast of Old Queens and Geology Hall.
St. Dominic's Church is an historic Catholic church building in Portland, Maine, located at the corner of Gray Street and State Street. When it was dedicated on August 11, 1833, it became the first Roman Catholic church in the city and the third in the state. Parishioners generally resided in the historically Irish neighborhoods of Gorham's Corner, Munjoy Hill (Portland) and Knightville. Prior to the closing of the parish in 1997, it had been at one time one of the largest Irish-American Catholic parishes north of Boston. In 2003, the building was transferred to the newly formed Maine Irish Heritage Center.
Sacred Heart Church is an historic church building in Portland, Maine, owned by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland.
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.
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 Way, in 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.
Mountfort Street is a historic downtown street in Portland, Maine, United States. It runs for around 0.22 miles (0.35 km), from Congress Street, at the foot of Munjoy Hill, in the northwest to Fore Street in the southeast. It forms the eastern boundary of Eastern Cemetery, which was established in 1668.