About Portland Maine (courtesy of Wikipedia)
Portland is the largest city in the U.S. state of Maine, with a population of 63,882 as of 2004 (down from 64,249 in 2000). According to the 2000 U.S. Census, Portland's immediate metropolitan area ranked 147th in the nation, with 243,537 inhabitants. The Portland/South Portland/Biddeford greater metropolitan area had an estimated 510,791 inhabitants as of 2004 (up from 489,343 in 2000) according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
The city is the county seat of Cumberland County. Cities within two hours' drive include Boston, Massachusetts, Portsmouth, New Hampshire and Manchester, New Hampshire. Tourists come for its lively downtown and historic Old Port district along Portland Harbor, which is at the mouth of the Fore River. The Portland Head Light in nearby Cape Elizabeth is the country's most recognizable lighthouse and a symbol of Maine and New England.
Portland is Maine's cultural and economic capital, and it is a major draw for residents statewide. The city is politically liberal, leading many Mainers to consider it culturally different from other sections of the state.
The city seal depicts a phoenix rising out of ashes, which goes with its motto, "Resurgam," Latin for "I will rise again", in reference to Portland's recoveries from four devastating fires.
The city of Portland, Oregon was named for Portland, Maine. The Portland Public Schools are the largest school district in Maine.
Portland was originally called Machigonne by the native people who first lived there. It was settled by the British in 1632 as a fishing and trading settlement and renamed Casco. In 1658 its name was changed again, this time to Falmouth. A monument at the end of Congress Street where it meets the Eastern Promenade is a tribute to the four historical names for Portland.
In 1675 the village was completely destroyed by the Wampanoag people during King Philip's War. The city was rebuilt, to be destroyed by the same natives again several years later. On October 18, 1775, the city was destroyed yet again, bombarded during the American Revolutionary War by the Royal Navy under command of Captain Henry Mowat who while visiting the town on an voyage earlier that same year had been taken hostage at Marston’s Tavern, high upon Middle Street near the square (by the present day site of Longfellow Books) by rural renegades from Brunswick, Maine.
Following the war, a section of Falmouth called "The Neck" developed as a commercial port and began to grow rapidly as a shipping center. In 1786 the citizens of Falmouth formed a separate town in Falmouth Neck and named it Portland. Portland's economy was greatly stressed by the Embargo Act of 1807 (prohibition of trade with the British) and the War of 1812. In 1820 Maine became a state and Portland was selected as its capital. By this time both the Embargo Act and the war had ended, and Portland's economy began to recover. In 1832 the capital was moved to Augusta.
Portland was a center for protests concerning the Maine law of 1851 culminating in the Portland Rum Riot on June 2, 1855.
On July 4, 1866, a fire ignited during the 4th of July celebration, destroyed most of the commercial buildings in the city, half the churches and hundreds of homes. More than 10,000 people were left homeless. After this fire, Portland was rebuilt with brick and took on a Victorian appearance. Citizens began building huge Victorian mansions along Portland's (now famous) western promenade.
The high quality of architecture in Portland is in large part due to the succession of talented architects who worked here. Charles A. Alexander (1822-1882) provided many of the designs for Portland's Victorian mansions. Henry Rowe (1810-1870) specialized in Gothic cottages. George M. Harding (1827-1910) designed many of the commercial buildings in Portland's Old Port as well as many of Portland's ornate residential buildings. Around the turn of the century Frederick A. Tompson (1857-1906) designed many of Portland's residential buildings.
But by far the most influential and prolific architects of the Western Promenade area were Francis Fassett (1823-1906) and John Calvin Stevens (1855-1940). In the 1870s Fassett was the undisputed leader in his profession. He was commissioned to build the Maine General Building (now a wing of the Maine Medical Center) and the Williston West Church as well as several schools and his own home. From the early 1880s to the 1930s Stevens worked in a wide range of styles from the Queen Anne and Romanesque popular at the beginning of his career, to the Mission Revival Style of the 1920s, but the architect is best known for his pioneering efforts in the Shingle and Colonial Revival styles, examples of which abound in this area.
The erection of the Maine Mall, an indoor shopping center established in the suburb of South Portland during the 1970s, has had a significant effect on Portland's downtown. Department stores and other major franchises either moved to the nearby mall or went out of business. This has been a mixed blessing for locals, protecting the city's character (chain stores are often uninterested in it now) but leading to a number of empty storefronts. Some residents lament at having to venture out of town for certain products and services no longer available on the peninsula.
Since the 1990s, Maine College of Art has proved to be a revitalizing force in the downtown area - bringing in students from around the country, and restoring the historic Porteous building on Congress Street as its main facility. The school has also maintained the Baxter building, once home to the city's public library, as a computer lab and photography studio.
After being destroyed four times, Portland is one of the most beautiful cities in New England. The Victorian style architecture, which was popular during Portland's rebuilding, has been preserved very well by the city's strong emphasis on preservation. Most cities have only small traces of architecture from this era. Portland's unique history and determination to survive have made it one of the best places to live and visit in the country. In 1982 the area was entered on the National Register of Historic Places. In modern lifestyle surveys, it is often cited as one of America's best small cities to live in.
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