USA > Maine > Cumberland County > Portland > Portland city guide > Part 31
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35
284
Portland City Guide
three and five hundred men from all walks of life and embracing many religious beliefs.
17. Site of Fort Sumner, 60 North St. Fort Sumner, originally located on ground south of Shailer School and named for Increase Sumner, Governor of Massachusetts, was erected in 1794 when war between the United States and France seemed imminent. It had a battery on Monument Street mounting large cannon and is supposed to have been the origin of Long- fellow's lines in 'My Lost Youth':
The Fort upon the hill; The sunrise gun with its hollow roar, The drum beat repeated o'er and o'er, And the bugle wild and shrill.
In time the principal function of this fort was the "fire watch," a sentinel who, on discovering a fire in the town, would discharge a cannon as a signal for the ringing of bells to summon aid. This was the town's sole fortification until forts Preble and Scammel were erected in 1808-09. During the War of 1812 its guns were remounted but never used, and in 1827 John Neal (see Literature) set up a gymnasium within the fort and was the first man to introduce parallel bars and leaping poles in New England. Fort Sumner Park, of 1.07 acres, is N of the Shailer School.
18. Cumberland County Jail, 25 Munroe St., was erected in 1858. The central part of the granite-trimmed brick building houses the office, read- ing room, kitchen, and eight sleeping rooms. The granite wings on each side of the main structure contain 63 cells. Offenders who are sentenced to 11 months or less serve their time here, but those drawing longer sen- tences are transferred to Thomaston State Prison. Previous to 1914 wooden heels were manufactured by the prisoners in a shop in the rear of the jail; since that date the stoneyard is the only labor activity connected with the institution.
19. The Reservoir, cor. North and Walnut Sts., was completed in 1890; it was one of the largest reservoirs in Maine at the time. The original con- struction was of dirt, and in 1893 one end of the wall became weakened, releasing millions of gallons of water backed by the tremendous pressure of an elevation of 267 feet above sea level. Houses were washed away, and four persons were drowned. To guard against a like disaster, the new walls were constructed of granite blocks over crushed stone, all laid in a bed of clay. Since 1926, with the opening of a new conduit from Sebago Lake, this reservoir with a capacity of 20,000,000 gallons has been main-
285
Munjoy Hiil Section
tained only as a reserve source for the city's water supply. A pumping station connected with the reservoir is located at Walnut and Sheridan streets.
20. The Jewish Home for the Aged, (visitors daily 10 a. m. to 6 p.m.), 158 North St., a square, two-story brick-stucco building was erected in 1929 from designs by the Portland architect, Herbert Rhodes. A synagogue for religious services and a reception hall are among the facilities included in the building. The home accommodates aged Jewish people of any finan- cial status and is maintained by voluntary contributions.
21. Tukey's Bridge, Washington Ave., was opened in 1796 and for a long period was known as Back Cove bridge. Portland at that time was almost entirely surrounded by water, and eastward travelers were forced to go up Congress, through Grove Street, out by Allen's Corner and over a covered bridge. In 1791 a petition was sent to the General Court of Massachusetts 'o solicit aid in having a road built to, and a dam thrown across, the cove between Sandy and Seacomb points. This was denied, and private citizens of the town procured a charter three years later under the name of "The Proprietors of Back Cove Bridge." This bridge was maintained by tolls until 1830, at which time Portland citizens felt it should be free, but not until six years later did the owners agree that their investment had been paid sufficiently and that tolls be discontinued. The State Legislature de- creed that proprietors officially relinquish the bridge to the city in March, 1837. All the proprietors were not agreeable to this decision and one, "a very respectable citizen," took matters into his own hands, stood at the gate, and collected tolls. A group of young men, intent on using the bridge without paying a fee, demanded free passage, but the determined proprietor held on to the gate. The warning that he would be thrown overboard un- less he released his hold made no difference to him, but when the young men seized the gate and tore it loose, caution came to his rescue and he dropped from the gate in time to escape being plunged to the water below. From then on it was a free bridge. Lemuel Tukey was an early toll col- lector who kept a tavern on the Portland side where he served clam and fish suppers; gradually the bridge came to be known as Tukey's Bridge. It was rebuilt in 1898 when an iron draw was put in. It is now maintained by the city.
22. The Burnham and Morrill Company, 45 Water St., is a four-story brick building with concrete trimmings, occupied by the firm since 1915. There are also a two-story brick fish-house and four storage warehouses
286
Portland City Guide
connected with the plant. This concern had its inception in Portland al- most ninety years ago in a small factory on Franklin Street. In 1865 George Burnham (1831-1909) originated the idea of packing small herring as sardines - a substitute for those packed in France. Burnham went abroad and studied the French method, returning to set up a factory in Eastport especially for the canning of sardines.
23. The U. S. Marine Hospital (open 2-4 p.m.), 331 Veranda St., was erected on the site of the Veranda Hotel and opened to patients in 1859. The hotel, which burned in 1851, was the rendezvous of early Portlanders who enjoyed its cuisine and dancing parties. Advertised as a "watering- place," it attracted many guests among whom was Longfellow who spent a summer reading the proof sheets of Evangeline.
When the Marine Hospital Service was inaugurated by Congress, July 16, 1798, the President was authorized to collect twenty cents a month from every seaman of the United States engaged in foreign and coasting trades for the relief of sick and disabled seamen provided that the money be ex- pended in the district in which it was collected. Portland was then, as now, the chief seaport of Maine, but early patients, for want of a hospital, were boarded out in private families. Dr. Nathaniel Coffin (1744-1826), whose medical education was at Guy's and St. Thomas' Hospital, London, was the first attending government physician and held the post until 1826. As larger numbers of seamen applied for treatment, private facilities could not meet the demand, and the town voted "to provide for all sick and dis- tressed seamen at the almshouse." As this was connected with the town jail, the mariners soon rebelled against being housed with petty vagrants. Agitation was started in Congress by Francis O. J. Smith (1806-76), a rep- resentative from this district, for adequate hospital facilities, and on July 1, 1859, the present Marine Hospital was ready for occupancy, with Dr. Samuel H. Tewksbury (1819-80) of Portland the first superintendent. The U. S. Government Public Health Report for February 6, 1931, com- plimented: "The service of Portland maintains perhaps to a greater ex- tent than any other the original character and intent of the Marine Hospital system. A vast majority of its patients are seamen of the old New England type of sailors from coasting vessels - the genuine 'Happy Jacks' of song and story. With these, of course, is to be found some of the class of sea- faring men on steam vessels, but none of the bastard type of seamen to be seen on rivers under the title of roustabouts." There are now 15 classifica- tions of persons entitled to the benefits of this well-equipped hospital.
24. Martin's Point Bridge, the E. end of Veranda St., was opened as a toll
287
Munjoy Hill Section
bridge in 1828. Shortly after the turn of the century the need was felt for a bridge across the Presumpscot River at this point, but the severe finan- cial depression occasioned by the Embargo Act of 1807 delayed action at that time. Twenty years later a company known as the Proprietors of Mar- tin's Bridge was incorporated and completed the bridge the following year. It was destroyed by a freshet in 1861 and abandoned until the county, by legislative authority, built and opened a free bridge in 1868. This bridge was entirely renovated in 1920.
WOODFORDS SECTION
The part of the city known today as Woodfords was virgin forest long after "The Neck' had become a bustling port. With the withdrawal of hostile Indians farther west settlers straggled in, but it was not until after the Revolution that inhabitants of Stevens Plains, named for an extensive landowner, took up their peacetime trade of smithing and making tin- ware. A flourishing settlement then grew up, and craftsmen in tin and pewter made this section famous. Fine homes were built, and genial hosts entertained their guests in a lavish manner. A fire destroyed the tin shops in 1842, and the industry was never rebuilt. When the Maine Central Rail- road ran its tracks through Woodfords and built a station there, many travelers preferred to leave the train at this junction and come in to Port- land on the new horsecars. Stevens Plains, according to Edward Elwell in Portland and Vicinity, were: "the scene of 'General Musters,' where the 'old militia' disported themselves in gorgeous uniforms, and engaged in sham fights involving a great waste of gun-powder, though no loss of blood." After the disastrous fire of 1866 Portland residents began to build their homes in this less congested city of Deering which became a part of Portland in 1899. Woodfords, once famous for tinware and horn combs, is a section of comfortable homes with a shopping center at the "Corner."
1. Winslow & Company, 253 Forest Ave., known to early Portlanders as the Old Pottery, is the only plant of its kind in New England and is claimed to be the largest east of Ohio. Originally the Portland Stoneware Com- pany established in 1846 by John T. Winslow (1820-96), the plant for many years produced crocks, jars, and ornamental stoneware. In 1870, however, the pottery started mass production of more utilitarian objects and today produces digester brick, tile pipe, wind guards, flue linings, and chimney tops. About one-third of the clay used in the pottery is obtained from the clay bank lying between Forest Avenue and Tukey's Bridge and the remainder is imported.
2. Winslow Park, Forest Ave. and Winslow St., a small triangular plot of .19 acres, was one of the first neighborhood parks established under the Portland Park System. It is named for Edward B. Winslow (1846-1936),
289
Woodfords Section
COLLEGE
34
31
33
,
ST
30
-
29
32
-
28
----
27
26
24
- -
STEVENS AVE
25
22
21)
20
19
23
FOREST AVE
WALTON ST
16
14
13
38
OCEAN AVE
BRIGHTON AVE
15
HIGHLAND ST
WOODFORDS ST
ATER BLVD
O
7
COYLE ST
=
DOUGLASS
36
0
DEERING AVE
FOREST AVE
3
5
4
BEDFORD ST
WINSL.
N
-
WOODFORDS SECTION
GLENWOOD AVE
37
PLEASANT AVE
35
18
17
CONCORD ST
NEW ST
ELMWOOD
WOODFORDS ST
COLUMBIA RD
LUDLOW ST
HARTLEY ST
12
8
290
Portland City Guide
a local merchant, who for many years was president of the Old Pottery (see above) .
3. The Lafayette Restorator, 25 Granite St., was built prior to 1760 as the home of Joshua Freeman (1730-70), brother-in-law of Dr. Samuel Deane of the First Parish Church. In 1775 Dr. Deane and his wife fled from the less protected area of 'The Neck' to this house to escape the bombardment of the town by Captain Henry Mowat (see History). Ori- ginally of two stories, a third floor was added to the frame building in re- cent years. During the early 1800's it was an inn known as the Lafayette Restorator. The original main entrance with its fine fanlighted doorway and a portico with four large Doric pillars supporting a pediment, remain.
4. The Deering Mansion, 85 Bedford St., sets back from the busy street, its broad lawns shaded by fine old elms. This square, two-story, white frame residence was built in 1804 by James Deering (1766-1850), the son of Nathaniel Deering (1739-95), one of Portland's pioneers who came to "The Neck' in 1761. The house occupies a part of the site of Anthony Brackett's farm where in 1689 Colonel Benjamin Church led his militia against the Indians in one of the bloodiest battles ever fought on Maine soil (see History). The interior of this old house, maintained in excellent condition, contains many early American antiques and is kept much as when its owner, James Deering, was host to such distinguished guests as Daniel Webster, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, and Jefferson Davis.
5. Noyes Park, Deering and Brighton Aves. and Bedford St., containing .52 acres, was acquired by the city in 1927 and named in honor of the Noyes family who gave a part of the property to the city.
6. Fessenden Park, Brighton and Deering Aves., a .46-acre park honors Portland's William Pitt Fessenden (see Downtown Section: No. 108) and his son, General Francis Fessenden (1839-1906), a Civil War veteran, who was mayor of Portland in 1876.
7. Longfellow Park, Deering Ave., and Devonshire and Longfellow Sts., was acquired by the park department in a novel manner in 1929. Near-by residents paid part of the purchase price, and the city the balance. There are several excellent specimens of Norway maples in this .05-acre park.
8. Trinity Square Park, Forest Ave. and Coyle St. of .3 acres, is named for (9) Trinity Episcopal Church, 113 Coyle St. The brown shingled church was designed and built under the supervision of the Reverend Charles T.
Fort Allen Park
Deering Oaks Playground
Corner Baseball
-
East End Bathing Beach
"The Old Swimming Hole'
Wilde Memorial Chapel, Evergreen Cemetery
Flower Circle in Deering Oaks
Gulliver Field Pond
Baxter Boulevard Memorial
Fessenden Park
Western Promenade
-
A
Longfellow Monument
291
Woodfords Section
Ogden; its cornerstone was laid by the Episcopal Bishop of Maine, Benja- min Brewster, in 1891. The Kincaid Memorial altar rail of hand-carved fumed oak is in striking contrast to an otherwise undistinguished interior.
10. The Baxter Memorial, Baxter Boulevard and Woodford St., was erected in 1925 by the Baxter Boulevard Memorial Association to honor James Phinney Baxter (1831-1921). While mayor in 1893 Baxter first called attention to the possibilities of a parkway skirting Back Cove; three years later he had plans drawn for the proposed new development which, together with Eastern and Western Promenades and Deering Oaks, would encircle Portland with a nearly continuous parkway. Property owners do- nated land fronting the cove, and under an intensive campaign by Baxter a narrow trail was laid out along the irregular shoreline; this was followed by a graveled roadway and finally by the present macadam boulevard which, with its ornamental bridges over winding creeks and landscaped area on each side, is one of Portland's beauty spots. This Back Cove Boulevard, as it was then called, was opened in 1917, but four years later its name was changed to Baxter Boulevard. The memorial is an elliptical granite base on which are a sun dial and three large stone seats.
The boulevard, covering about thirty acres, swings around Back Cove from Forest Avenue to Washington Avenue, a distance of 2.25 miles. The 600- acre Back Cove, with its bottleneck entrance from Portland Harbor, is a haven for thousands of aquatic birds during the migratory seasons (see Natural Setting) ; in 1915 the part of the cove adjacent to the eastern end of the boulevard was set off by the State of Maine as a bird sanctuary.
11. Payson Park, lying between Baxter Boulevard and Ocean Ave., com- prising 47.75 acres of recreational park land, was acquired by the city in 1917. In 1925 two memorial piers, surmounted by large octagonal lanterns, were erected at the Ocean Avenue entrance; a bronze plaque indicates that the park was named in memory of Edward Payson, although it is not known whether this was the Reverend Edward Payson (1783-1827) of the Second Parish Church or his son, Edward Payson (1813-90), who lived near by (see below.) Fronting Baxter Boulevard is a 210 mm. German howitzer which was seized by the Allies during the World War. Within the park is a children's playground, baseball diamond, tennis courts, and a munici- pal nursery where the city's gardeners propagate many varieties of ever- green and diciduous trees, and shrubs for the beautification of Portland's parks.
12. The Payson House, 455 Ocean Ave., on land adjacent to Payson Park
292
Portland City Guide
owned by the City of Portland, was erected in the 1850's by Edward and George Payson, sons of the Reverend Edward Payson, noted pastor of the Second Parish Church. Locally called Payson's Castle, this brick resi- dence with tower is built of sun-dried bricks made of clay taken from near- by Back Cove. Sun-dried bricks, however, were not adapted for use in the Maine climate, and the builders were forced to cover the exterior with mastic.
13. Woodfords Club, 179 Woodford St., a social club, was organized in 1913 with a membership of 100. Any person 21 years of age or over, re- siding within a ten-mile radius of the clubhouse is eligible for membership. The original clubhouse was erected in 1914 and enlarged in 1931.
14. Woodfords Congregational Church and Parish House, 199 and 202 Woodford St. The frame church edifice, erected in 1872 from designs by the local architectural firm of F. H. & E. F. Fassett, is unimportant archi- tectually in direct contrast to the splendid Early Georgian brick parish house, built in 1926 from designs by the Boston architects, Miller, Mayo, and Beal. The church bell was presented by the daughters of James Deer- ing (see above: No. 4), and the original communion service was the gift of the now disbanded Plymouth Congregational Church of Portland.
The history of this church society dates from 1725 when the original First Parish Church was erected on what is now Congress Street (see Religion) , from which emerged Parson Bailey's parish in Stroudwater, the predecessor of the present church.
15. The Washington Elm, in yard of 14 Highland St., is marked by a bronze tablet: "This tree, a scion of the Washington Elm in Cambridge, Mass., was sent as a slip by the poet Henry W. Longfellow to his brother, Alexander W. Longfellow, and planted here by him near his home in 1852." Longfellow delighted in spending long hours at "Highfield," the name he bestowed on his brother Alexander's home and was constantly sending gifts to beautify it. In later years the estate became the home of George Thornton Edwards (1868-1932), who compiled the biographical Musicians of Maine (see Music) .
16. Clark Memorial Methodist Church, 11 Pleasant Ave., a plain, wooden structure built in 1882, is named in memory of Dr. Eliphalet Clark (1801- 83), a distinguished local physician and zealous churchman. One of the earliest native American doctors to practice homeopathy, Clark was a mem- ber of the committee that drafted the plan for the American Institute of
293
Woodfords Section
Homeopathy. He was the first president of the Maine Wesleyan Board of Education and was one of the first patrons and trustees of the General Biblical Institute of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Clark declined nom- inations as mayor of Portland and as governor of Maine, but was active in many civic matters; he served as president of the city's first horsecar rail- way and as director and president of the famous Boston and Portland Steam Packet Company.
17. Caldwell Memorial, cor. Stevens Ave. and Woodford St., is a granite boulder with bronze plaque, presented to the city on November 11, 1923, by the Ralph D. Caldwell Post No. 129, American Legion, in memory of Portland's World War veterans. This post was also instrumental in hav- ing the name of the square which the memorial faces changed from High- land to Caldwell Square to honor Ensign Ralph D. Caldwell (1898-1918) , who lost his life when the steamer Westover was torpedoed by a German submarine.
18. The Church of the New Jerusalem, 302 Stevens Ave., a frame struc- ture with a steep-pitched roof, was designed by the local architects, John Calvin Stevens and John Howard Stevens. The structure was originally intended to be a parish house but since its completion in 1910 has been used as a church. The doctrine of Emmanuel Swedenborg was first preached in Portland in 1825, and six years later the present Society of the New Jeru- salem was formed (see Religion) .
19. Deering High School, 386 Stevens Ave., a red-brick, two-story modern school 435 feet in length, was erected in 1924 along English Tudor lines from designs by the local architectural firm of Poor & Thomas. Flanked on front and sides by broad lawns broken by brick-flagged walks, the build- ing is banked with plantings of evergreens indigenous to Maine. Before the principal façade is a small formal garden, and at the rear are an athletic field and tennis courts. The building contains 30 study and class rooms, library, auditorium, gymnasium, and faculty offices for an enrollment averaging 1,500 students. Deering High School is one of the State's lead- ing educational institutions, and its music department has long been ac- knowledged the finest in any public school in Maine.
In the rear of Deering High School is (20) Presumpscot Park, bordered by Ludlow and Concord Sts. and Columbia Rd., a 28-acre recreational cen- ter that was acquired by the city in 1920 and which has been credited with being one of the finest areas of its kind in the East connected with a high school. Included in its sports facilities are a baseball diamond, softball
294
Portland City Guide
field, football gridiron, cement tennis courts, skating pond, and an outdoor 12-lap running track. The area of this sports field once formed part of the Maine Agricultural Fair Grounds where a three-story grandstand seating 1,500, sheds for accommodating 400 cattle, and stalls for 200 horses, formed a background for the milling throngs that attended this once leading fair to wax enthusiastic over the trotting records of their favorite horses.
21. The Central Square Baptist Church or Dunn Memorial Church, 466 Stevens Ave., a massive granite structure with tall spired tower on one corner, was built in the Gothic style in 1906. In the last decade the church was enlarged under the direction of the local architectural firm of Miller, Mayo and Beal. The society had its origin in a community Sunday school established for all denominations in 1901, and which, because of its pre- dominant Baptist membership, soon led to services conducted in a local hall under the auspices of the First Baptist Church of Portland. The church is a memorial to the Reverend A. T. Dunn (1850-1902), State secretary of the Maine Baptist Convention who was untiring in his efforts in forming the local society.
22. Lincoln Junior High School, 512 Stevens Ave., Portland's only junior high school, occupies the original Deering High School building erected in 1899 and the annex erected in 1913, both of red brick and three stories high. Formally opened in 1924 as Deering Junior High School, it was dedicated a year later in memory of Abraham Lincoln and acquired its present name. Within the building is an indoor garden, a gift of the graduating class of 1931, and in the Dicken's Corner of the school library is housed the Dick- en's collection bequeathed by Mrs. Augusta M. Hunt (1842-1922), presi- dent for many years of the Dickens Fellowship in Portland. In the entrance hall is a life-size plaster statue of Abraham Lincoln and a plaster reproduc- tion of Jean Houdon's famous statue of George Washington.
23. Baxter's Woods, lying between Forest and Stevens Aves., was pre- sented to the City of Portland in 1935 as a bird sanctuary by Percival P. Baxter, Governor of Maine 1921-25. Comprising 30 acres of woodland and two small ponds, this area, under the auspices of the Longfellow Garden Club, has become an outdoor center of increasing importance. Its trails, winding beneath tall pines and through sunny glades, provide an excellent opportunity for the study of birds that frequent this latitude; the identified trees, shrubs, flowers, ferns, and mosses are flora native to this section of Maine.
This woodland was once known as Forest Home, the residence of Francis
295
Woodfords Section
O. J. Smith (1806-76), who studied law in the local office of Fessenden and Deblois and was admitted to the bar at the age of 19. Smith was a prodigious worker: while carrying on an extensive law practice and dab- bling in politics, he prepared and published an exhaustive two-volume edi- tion of the Laws of Maine; he was elected representative to the Maine Legislature in 1830 and a senator two years later; in 1831 he brought out the newspaper Augusta Age; elected a representative to Congress from Cumberland County in 1833, he served six terms; in 1838 he accompanied Samuel F. B. Morse to Europe introducing the electric magnetic telegraph; returning to Portland the following year he started the Argus Revived to oppose President Munroe's re-election; retiring from politics for several years to further the establishment of Morse's telegraph, Smith, about 1849 or '50, furnished the largest part of the funds to build the Portland Gas Works; purchasing the Portland Advertiser in 1861, Smith vigorously sup- ported the administration of Abraham Lincoln, but later vehemently con- demned the Emancipation Proclamation. This latter activity seemed trea- sonable bringing severe criticism on Smith of whom, in the pamphlet River- ton Park and Presumpscot River, published by the Portland Railroad Com- pany in 1897, it was said: "he was to Maine what Aaron Burr was to the country at large." In contrast to this censure, D. C. Colesworthy in School Is Out eulogizes Smith as a "remarkable man. He has accomplished more in his life than a dozen men ordinarily perform . .. with the perseverance of an Arkwright, the strategy of a Napoleon, the genius of a Bacon, and the eloquence of a Burke, what may not this indefatigable man accomplish for the present age and posterity, if his life should be continued a score of years."
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.