USA > Maine > Cumberland County > Portland > Portland city guide > Part 17
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No small contribution to the local cultivation of art has been the effort of the Portland Society of Art, founded in January, 1882; John Calvin Stevens served as president for many years. In 1911 the society sponsored the School of Fine and Applied Art to furnish the community with the op- portunity of an education in the arts; this is not a proprietary school op- erated for private profit but is a part of the community service of the so- ciety. The school affords students a thorough technical training in drawing and design, and aims to develop observation, stimulate the creative ability of the student, and develop a high standard of art appreciation. For 19 years Alice Henrietta Howes' influence on the growth of the School of Fine and Applied Art helped to develop it into the leading institution of its kind in the State. Miss Howes joined the teaching staff in 1912 and in 1919 was appointed director, a position she held until 1931. Alexander Bower, director of the L. D. M. Sweat Memorial Art Museum is also di- rector of the School of Fine and Applied Art, supervising the teaching of the courses that give the student the necessary foundation for specialized study in any definite field of art. The school maintains a free Saturday morning art class for children. The Portland Camera Club, founded in 1899, is now a part of the Portland Society of Art. Each year this division of the society conducts a photographic salon. Many of its members have won distinction in exhibitions throughout the country.
Under the terms of Mrs. Margaret T. Mussey Sweat's will, the Port- land Society of Art was bequeathed her former home as a house-museum, and funds for the erection and maintenance of the L. D. M. Sweat Mem- orial Art Museum (see Points of Interest), as a tribute to her husband
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Lorenzo De Medici Sweat. The museum was dedicated in January, 1908. Exhibitions in every branch of the fine arts are frequently held in the mu- seum, affording students an opportunity to observe new currents in contem- porary art. Among valuable and interesting paintings now in the mu- seum are such works of Portland's early artists as: 'The Willey House in Crawford Notch,' by Charles F. Beckett; 'White Head,' by Harrison B. Brown; 'Jean Gaspard and his Dog,' by Charles Codman; 'Mr. Charles H. Jordan,' by Charles O. Cole; and 'Slope of Rocky Hill,' by Charles F. Kimball.
The activities of the L. D. M. Sweat Memorial Art Museum, public and private art schools, and art societies have done much to foster and stimulate the efforts of the vigorous art groups prominent in the city during the past few decades. The Haylofters, organized in 1924, is made up of an active coterie of both amateur and professional artists who hold occasional public exhibitions in their studios. The Art Associates, made up of a younger group of promising artists both amateur and professional, was first or- ganized as the Business Men's Art Club in 1928 and was re-organized as the Art Associates in 1933 for the purpose of admitting women and enlarging its quarters. A noteworthy feature of this organization is its Saturday morning free classes for children. Within recent years the American Ar- tists Professional League has become active in Portland.
The Forest City Home Workshop Club, organized by local hobbyists, has about fifty members engaged in the pursuit of various crafts, who con- struct such articles as skiis, book ends, miniature locomotives, speed boats, and clipper ships.
ARCHITECTURE
Portland architecture, along with that of the rest of Maine, has reflected the consistent conservatism and practicality of its citizens. In all of the generally accepted periods of New England architecture, local style has been modified by climatic conditions. Excessive rains and snows made tradi- tional European types of construction impractical. Natural environment also created a style characteristic of New England as a whole, and yet with a certain rugged quality of its own. Early settlers had an ample quantity of soft and hard timber which they were able to use freely in the erection of homes and buildings capable of standing up under the buffetings of rigorous winters. Since there were no architects in the strict sense of the word, such buildings as were erected were planned and built by Falmouth carpenters.
It is difficult to demarcate definitely the periods of architecture in New England, due to the overlapping of trends of design. The June, 1939, issue of House and Garden presents a classification of periods which may be applied in a general way to local architecture: Provincial, 1620-1700; Early Colonial, 1700-50; Late Colonial, 1750-75; Early Georgian, 1775-1800; Late Georgian, 1800-25; and Greek Revival, 1825-50. Georgian architec- ture was in vogue during the reign of the four Georges, namely, 1714-1830. In America the architecture of this period is called Colonial or Old Colonial. Russell Sturgis in his Dictionary of Architecture and Building, clarifies the relationship between the English Georgian and the American Colonial: "Colonial is a modification of the English Georgian style. It transfers the classic designs of the 18th Century to a new country where wood was largely used and where the workmen were far less restrained by an educated public opinion. The greater part of the buildings of the style are purely classic in
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their intent, but there exists in New England a number of buildings in which a much earlier tradition of building and simple decoration exists. An Eliza- bethan or Jacobean freedom of treatment, especially of interior work, is to be found in some of these structures."
Although there is no record of the type of buildings on 'The Neck' during the Provincial period, it may be assumed that they conformed to the gen- eral characteristics of that era in New England-rude, unpretentious, and built for service and warmth. Homes were plain both within and without, constructed of unpainted natural wood, with large central chimneys and wide, deep fireplaces. In order that rain and snow might easily slide off, roofs were steep-pitched, and in many cases chinked with mosses. Stairs were narrow and without balusters; the furniture was of natural finish maple, birch, or white pine.
There are few examples anywhere in the State of buildings erected before 1730, and consequently the general character of those built in Falmouth during the Early Colonial period cannot be accurately classified. During this half-century the 'salt-box' type of dwelling came into being, character- ized by a long rear lean-to, roof of flatter pitch, and two smaller chimneys sometimes supplanting the large central one. The lean-to was usually an addition to the original house, rather than a unified architectural feature of the structure. The addition of extra rooms required the building of a second chimney. About the middle of this period Parson Smith's house was built and for years was the most pretentious in the town. One of its rooms was referred to as "the papered room," since it was the only example in the vicinity of such ostentatious adornment and probably the first at- tempt locally at interior decoration.
The Late Colonial period found local carpenters following more exacting plans of construction, and a definite architectural balance was achieved, al- though at first Falmouth carpenters probably employed no conscious design. During this period books on architecture began to reach New England from the mother country, and the crude builders began to develop a more definite style patterned after the Renaissance manner of contemporary Britain. Nearly all houses fronted the south-to take advantage of the sun in the severe winter climate. Timbers used in the buildings were hand-hewn, with framework adzed smooth in the absence of planers. Larger, double-hung windows began to replace the narrow casement windows of earlier periods. The glass was imported, expensive, and in small pieces, accounting for the modest lights in the early windows. By the end of this period Falmouth was
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taking definite form as a compact town, as shown by Parson Samuel Deane's criticism of a draft or map of the town in his journal. Sketches of suggested changes in this map, drawn by him, show the two-chimney house in pre- dominance, but depict seven different kinds of roof construction (see chapter heading for reproduction of Deane's sketches). Cellars of these houses were built principally under the main part of the building, and were used for the preservation of foods and the storage of garden produce. Potato bins were built; cabbages hung by their roots from the floor girders; and a variety of other vegetables were kept in stout, dark boxes, safe from foraging rodents and the ravaging effect of sunlight. Fireplaces of uneven, handmade bricks were still used. The scarcity of iron necessitated the con- struction of building frames by the peg and joint method; such nails as were employed were crude and hand-wrought. Indian-red paint-a color compounded cheaply from red ocher and fish oil-coated the exteriors.
The year 1775, during which Falmouth was partially destroyed by Mowat's cannon, marks the beginning of the Early Georgian period of New England architecture which lasted until about 1800. Its influence was probably little felt locally as the town was in a period of slow recovery and was continually menaced by British ships coming in and out of the harbor on foraging expeditions. This period saw the construction of small col- umned porches, or 'stoops,' ornamented cornices, and elaborately turned newel posts and balusters.
The Late Georgian Period was definitely felt in Portland, an excellent ex- ample remaining in the well-known L. D. M. Sweat Mansion on High Street. The Home for Aged Men, on Danforth Street, is another example of the same period. This period is conspicuous for the finer detail of its architecture and for the modification of the solid, masculine qualities of the earlier work toward a more graceful and feminine type of design. The spirit of this period, however, was not as widely followed locally as that of the Greek Revival which found expression in extensive construction here. Many fine examples of this period disappeared in the 'Great Fire' of 1866, a conflagra- tion which also destroyed buildings of the previous periods. Houses of the Greek Revival were characterized by their two-story columns of Ionic, Doric, or Corinthian design, topped by a pediment. The roof pitch was flattened to conform to the new gable end and pediment, and all cornices and mould- ings were more substantial than those of the preceding periods. The John Neal House on State Street, built in 1840, is a good example of this period, with its recessed doorways and Doric mouldings at the entrance. The
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dwelling at 172 State Street, also of this period, has Ionic columns and is constructed along the lines of a Greek temple. Another outstanding struc- ture of this epoch is the Portland School of Fine Arts, on Spring Street.
After the fire of 1866 architects descended upon Portland from neigh- boring states in the hope of fat commissions, but their stay was short since local property owners had been reduced almost to poverty, and cheap and easily constructed buildings became the rule. The post-conflagration period was one of complete disappearance of the Greek Revival, and local ar- chitectural styles were patterned after those of the rest of the country. The necessity of building in compact areas also limited the architectural styles. Homes in 'boom' times were built with an eye to speedy construction rather than beauty. Portland felt the influence of the gingerbread architecture of the period when styles ran wild, giving way to meaningless detail in which purity of form was sacrificed.
In the present century Portland has followed the general trend of Ameri- can architecture of large buildings-a tendency to create skyscraper ef- fects, employing iron, steel, and stone in construction. Few homes have been built in the city in late years that have not conformed to the modern Ameri- can conception of utility, omitting profuse ornamentation. These dwellings are noted more for their interior comforts and facilities, heating plants, and methods of lighting and refrigeration than for any distinct exterior char- acteristics, although there has been a strong tendency in recent years to re- capture some of the spirit of the Georgian period. The newer apartment houses in the city proper are complete with modern appointments, follow- ing the pattern accepted in most American cities. Fire hazards have been diminished since buildings have been made practically fireproof by the use of noncombustible materials-such as brick buildings with steel frames and concrete floors. This combination is used extensively in educational and in- dustrial buildings. Stone exteriors with steel framing are seen in govern- mental work, but due to excessive expense are seldom used in private en- terprise.
Residential work in the early part of the 20th century was limited to structures erected by carpenters with little knowledge of past precedent. However, mills were sawing lumber to new sizes and houses were built in increasing numbers in the city areas. These tended to be larger wooden structures that boasted little in architectural adornments, planning or practicability. In the early 1900's local builders in the higher income brackets began to use the architects' services to secure more practical plan-
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Belfrey of Greek Hellenic Church (Somewhat altered today)
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Portland Club
Neal Shaw Mansion
* ** THE CANAL NATIONAL BANK OF PORTLAND
Canal National Bank Building
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Union Station
L. D. M. Sweat Mansion
St. Stephen's Church
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Fireplace in Means House
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ning, symmetry of design, balance and proportion, as well as good taste, in exterior and interior decoration. A few of these latter type houses can be seen on the Western Promenade and in its vicinity. The W. W. Thomas house designed by Waite of Boston, the Burnham House on the corner of Chadwick and Carroll streets, and the Leonard House on the Promenade and Carroll Street, designed by E. Leander Higgins, the Walter Davis House on the Promenade by Leigh French, Jr., are all excellent examples of this early 20th century use of old precedent combined with modern utili- tarianism.
Portland has few public buildings that are pure examples of any period of world architecture. Modified French Gothic is seen in the construction of the Cathedral of The Immaculate Conception; St. Luke's Cathedral is an example of early English Gothic design. Of St. Stephen's Episcopal Church, Cram and Ferguson, Boston architects, have spoken "in high praise of its fidelity to the early English Gothic style." It is said that when the poet Matthew Arnold visited Portland on a lecture tour he halted his car- riage in front of St. Stephen's and requested that he might enter, stating: "This is the only edifice of its kind I have seen in all my travels in America." The Eastland Hotel, tallest and largest building in the city, is an example of the modern commercial type of architecture. The most notable example of fine architecture in Portland is the City Hall, designed by the late John M. Carrere of the firm of Carrere and Hastings in New York. Carrere once said that he had rather have his "reputation as an architect rest upon the Portland City Hall than upon any other building" with which he had been connected.
Notable among the architects who came to the city after the fire of 1866 was Francis H. Fassett; he was originally a carpenter, but educated himself in the fine points of architecture. Fassett designed the original building of the Maine General Hospital, the Portland Public Library, and a large number of mercantile houses and residences. About the same time George M. Harding was active locally, designing the Bramhall Building, later de- molished, and other residential buildings. Much important designing was done during the early 1900's by George Burnham and Leander Higgins, who were associated in business.
Today Portland has a list of prominent practicing architects who are ac- tive in designing not only local buildings, but structures throughout the State. John Calvin Stevens and his son, John Howard Stevens, have col- laborated in the design of many local buildings, notable among which are
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the L. D. M. Sweat Memorial Art Museum, the new Portland Post Office, and the Portland Boys' Club. John P. Thomas designed the Deering High School in modified traditional English style, and the Canal National Bank and Y. M. C. A. buildings following the American Georgian style. Am- brose S. Higgins carries on the business of his father, E. Leander Higgins, in whose office were designed the Immanuel Baptist Church in English Perpendicular Gothic style, the Portland Police Station, and the Codman Memorial Chapel (St. Peters) after the traditional early English Gothic parish design. Although church work has been a specialty of this firm, they have done much hospital and residential designing. The firm of Miller and Beal is now carried on by Lester I. Beal, and in their offices were de- signed the new Central Fire Station, Woodfords Congregational Parish House, and the South Portland High School. Royal Boston, Jr., and Philip S. Wadsworth are associated in the firm bearing their names, and most of their local work has been on residences, although they designed the Mc- Donald Lumber Company building and the new Gorham High School. Herbert W. Rhodes and his son, Philip H. Rhodes, are associated in gen- eral architectural practice, and from this office came the plans for the East- land Hotel, the Congress Building, and the Chapman Building.
Although not architectural in the strict application of the word, Port- land's old red-brick sidewalks, still found in many important and central sections, are a definite part of the city's pattern. An excellent example of this construction is in front of the First Parish Church. A vista of a more substantial and complacent past is to be found on Deering Street where brick-paved walks are shaded by tall elms. Set primly back from the side- walks are rows of two-story brick houses of the 1880's and '90's, approached in some cases through attractive flower gardens. The street ends abruptly against the towering front of a massive hotel whose modern commercial lines are in striking contrast to the Victorian atmosphere left behind. State Street, between Longfellow Square and Danforth Street, seems to exude an atmosphere of the Greek Revival in the stately columned buildings which escaped the fire of 1866. The first example of brick construction in the city may be seen in the exterior of the Wadsworth-Longfellow House with its three main stories and a one-story extension. The masonry is laid in Flemish bond to the third story, which was added in later years, and in running bond to the roof.
LITERATURE
The literary and cultural life of Falmouth, like that of most Colonial settlements, took permanent form with the arrival of the first printing press. In pioneer times, however, books and all kinds of reading matter were re- garded as luxuries by a people who were little educated, and had to concern themselves with survival against the attacks of the hostile Indians and the rigors of Maine winters. Within half a century after the establishment of a local press, native literature surged into its flood tide. During the period between the beginning of the 19th century and the Civil War, a brilliant galaxy of Portland writers achieved international fame. The creative urge still impels the outpouring of thousands of words, but the close perspective of the present prevents an evaluation of their universal importance. Some may remain as vivid examples of a purely native genius, others merely the forgotten effusions of an over-ambitious moment.
During the formative years of the Province of Maine there were no li- braries of any importance. There were, however, such private collections as those of Dr. Benjamin Vaughan, of Hallowell, and General Henry Knox, of Thomaston. The first public subscription library in Maine was opened on 'The Neck' in 1766 by a small group of leading citizens of Falmouth. It contained a collection of 96 volumes, all of which were imported and of a practical nature; nothing pertaining to art, science, or any book of fiction was included. The activities of its library membership were not altogether confined to the diffusion of literary knowledge, as its records show that they were frequently entertained with "noctes ambrosianae," it being the custom of the day "to administer to both natures of man, and not to neglect the body while providing for the mind."
The staple reading diet of the cultured few in pre-Revolutionary days consisted chiefly of theological dissertations, moral tracts, and political polemics. Dr. Samuel Deane, who succeeded the Reverend Thomas Smith as pastor of the First Parish Church, records in his diary: "I read the last
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winter (1771-2) the following books: Robertson's history of Charles V over again; Grove, on the Sacrament; the Patrons A. B. C .; Toogood, on In- fant Baptism; Saints' Everlasting Rest; Gay, on The Death of Mayhew; Phillips, on Justification; Directions to Students; Hopkins' Sermons; Dana's Sermons preached at Cambridge; The Wiles of Popery; Alleyne's Alarm; Government of the Tongue; Smith, on Redemption; Hoadly, on Acceptance; Introduction to the study of Philosophy; Browne's Sermon be- fore the E. Clergy; Bull's Sermon's; Barnard's Sermons; 5,341 pages in all."
The less literate of The Neck' were forced to content themselves with the Bible, supplemented by infrequent newssheets and crude almanacs. As conditions in the growing settlement became more stable, the demand for a wider range of reading material increased. A vital force in the gathering cultural movement was the Falmouth Gazette, Maine's first newspaper, es- tablished in 1785 by Benjamin Titcomb, Jr., and Thomas B. Wait. A path- way to a degree of literary culture was opened through its columns, not only by the dissemination of fact and the attendant editorial opinion, but also by its publication of letters from local subscribers. Latent talent was thus afforded an outlet and controversy became the order of the day.
Early printers were usually publishers, and the first bound book to ap- pear in the city was The Universal Spelling Book issued by the Titcomb and Wait Press in 1786. This was followed by Daniel George's Almanac with its motley assortment of astronomical data, informal chitchat, and the curious predictions which eventually made this type of reading matter a household institution.
The year 1794 was a definite milestone in Portland's literary history: Bowdoin College was founded in Brunswick, an educational academy was incorporated in Portland, and more interesting and revolutionary perhaps, the first dramatic performance ever given in Maine was presented in the old Assembly Rooms on King Street (India Street). The Eastern Herald, by then the leading local newspaper, was an ardent advocate of the drama. Following the first performance it printed one of the earliest examples of dramatic criticism in the country, and opened its pages to contributions of belles lettres submitted by local litterateurs. The few citizens who were well-read and could afford it had on their library shelves imported editions of Pope, the essays of Addison, and the speeches of Burke. By the last of the 18th century the thriving township of Portland had acquired a simple but genuine culture. The 141-line Richmond Hill, a sonorous poem by Dr. Samuel Deane, was the first serious local attempt at poetry. Written in
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1795, it did not appear in printed form until some years later. A more am- bitious attempt in verse was the publication of The Village, a poem of 2,000 lines by Enoch Lincoln, who was to become the sixth governor of Maine. Styled in the stately manner of Goldsmith, it was locally published in 1816.
This was the age of 'broadsides,' or printed sheets of ballads featuring topics either enthusiastically patriotic or extremely doleful. Portland par- ticularly reveled in the crude, sentimental effusions of Thomas Shaw, the ballad singer of Standish. He published thousands of his sheets dealing with such weird subjects as the Hanging of Daniel Drew, shipwrecks, and the story of a man and wife who froze to death at Raymond Cape. Each sheet was usually decorated with grim reminders in the shape of one or two black coffins.
The first figure of importance in Portland's literary history was Madame Sally Wood, the widow of General Abiel Wood, a Revolutionary veteran. Not only is she regarded as Maine's first writer of fiction, but she is con- sidered to have been one of America's first novelists. Born Sally Sayward Barrell (1759-1855) in York, Madame Wood later moved here in 1811 and continued her literary career. By the time of her arrival in Portland her work had already achieved a national reputation under the pen names of 'Lady of Massachusetts' and 'Lady of Maine'; in 1827 Thomas Todd, a local printer, published Tales of the Night, one of her best works, which was brought out under the pen name 'A Lady from Maine.' More signifi- cant than the quality of her writings, perhaps, was the interesting fact that she was the first of early native writers to develop a purely American style and locale. Madame Wood used native scenes and characters, which was quite unusual in an age when most manners and fashions were adopted from the 'gentility' of England and the Continent. However, Madame Wood be- came discouraged by what she considered the excellence of Walter Scott's Waverley novels, collected all the available books and manuscripts she had written and destroyed them.
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