USA > Maine > Cumberland County > Portland > Portland city guide > Part 8
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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
By 1872 Maine's railroading was nearing its peak, 65 trains arriving and departing from Portland each day. Twice a week steamers were sailing for New York; five months of each year the city was the winter port of Montreal. In August, 1874, nearly six million feet of lumber were shipped from the city to ports of the West Indies, and 30 large lumber concerns were flourishing on Commercial Street. This period was the most pros- perous commercially, and Portland was primarily a point of export. Dur-
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History
ing the latter years of the century Portland Harbor was the third strongest fortified harbor in the United States.
Telegraph facilities were brought to Portland in 1847. Two years later gas was first introduced and in 1864 the city's streets were illuminated with 297 gas lamps. Horsecar service on the city's principal streets was inau- gurated in October, 1863, by the Portland and Forest Avenue Railroad Company. In 1878 Portland's first telephone was installed, and five years later electricity was first used for illuminating purposes.
In 1879 the city acquired a part of what is now Deering Oaks, immor- talized by Longfellow in 'My Lost Youth,' and the site of Fort Allen in 1890, thus expanding the park system started immediately after the Great Fire.' In 1888 Portland's railroads had come of age with the construction of the huge Union Station.
The city had an estimated population of 42,000 in 1893, and including the surburban areas, was a shopping center for 60,000. The new grain ele- vator, built to accommodate the Canadian interests which used the city as a winter port, had a 200,000-bushel capacity, with adjoining warehouses for 450,000 bushels. Long wharves jutted from busy Commercial Street, and a marginal railroad linked each dock with a line connecting the rail- roads on the eastern and western ends of the city; ship-borne commerce amounted to 1,432,805 tons. The city boasted more than three hundred manufacturing plants - from canning factories to rolling mills - which produced $9,569,523 on an invested capital of $4,659,375. In July, 1896, the Board of Trade Journal reported that "the final subscription to build the great elevator at Portland for the Grand Trunk Railway system was taken." When completed, this was the largest grain elevator east of De- troit. Portland's tax valuation in 1896 was $37,801,200 with a tax rate of $20 on a thousand.
The Spanish-American War marked the beginning of Maine's extensive tourist industry. The Portland Courier Telegram in 1898 immediately started evaluating the war as follows: "The news of the 'Bottling up' of Admiral Cervera and his fleet at Santiago acted like a godsend to the hotel proprietors of Casco Bay and the boarding-house keepers on the Cape. They were astonished at the receipt of numerous orders for rooms and board, of which they had previously been in despair. If this reaction of feeling continues to hold good among the nervous and the timid, the moun- tain resorts will not have the walkover predicted. The annihilation of the Spanish fleet, if it comes soon, means a million dollars more or less, to the
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Portland City Guide
shores of Maine." Portland showed its loyalty by supplying four of the 12 companies in the First Maine Regiment serving in the Spanish-American War.
While rumors were rife that the Spanish fleet had sailed to bombard eastern coast cities, the Minneapolis and the Columbia were sent to patrol the Maine Coast. Rivers and harbors were mined, lighthouses were dark- ened, and other maritime safety signals were discontinued until the war ended. Armed cruisers left Portland for sea duty, Coast Guard patrol boats constantly watched for the enemy, and men of the First Regiment of Con- necticut volunteers were sent to garrison Fort Preble. At the outbreak of the war the Montauk, a monitor-type vessel with one turret and two guns, was sent to guard the city. It was manned by volunteer Portland naval re- serves consisting of 125 men in two divisions, organized through the efforts of William H. Clifford, Jr., and Harry M. Bigelow. The Portland-manned Montauk was never called upon to defend the city, and in the latter months of the war it proceeded to Boston and New York, but before it reached Philadelphia the war was over. The Portland Evening Express of July, 1938, ridiculed the Montauk editorially as "a relic of the Civil War, that somehow had got by the junk man." In 1899 Portland's Fleet Naval Re- serves were re-organized as the Maine Naval Militia.
Since its incorporation as a town in 1786 Portland had been confined to the narrow saddleback peninsula that jutted into Casco Bay, but in Feb- ruary, 1899, Portland annexed the city of Deering, adding 9,381 acres to its area, creating two new municipal divisions, Wards Eight and Nine.
The Twentieth Century City
At the turn of the century Portland's population was 50,145, a gain of 37.67 percent over the previous decade, about fifteen percent of this increase due to the annexation of Deering. During the last half of the 19th century growth had been steady, and the 20th century found it a prosperous com- munity with a property valuation of $50,000,000. Culturally, the city had made great strides, and boasted five musical societies, 20 scientific and liter- ary associations, eight temperance organizations, and 24 publications and newspapers. Opened in 1897, the Jefferson Theater had by 1900 established itself as one of the leading playhouses of New England. Casco Bay's is- lands were in their heyday as summer resorts - hotels and cottage colonies were springing up and harbor steamers did a thriving business. Portlanders started building new homes in the Deering section, and the shopping district
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History
grew rapidly. The city now entered a period of commercial expansion creeping somewhat away from the industrialism that had characterized its last half-century. Portland soon called itself "The Convention City."
The new century brought the era of "trolley car parks" when amusement areas were established by streetcar companies in the surburban sections of nearly all American cities of the East. Such a development was Portland's Riverton Park on the Presumpscot River. The Riverton management also provided a bicycle house "where those who come with wheels can leave the silent steed." In the open-air theater, audiences were entertained by "La Petite Blanche, the Dainty Soubrette," or by such traveling minstrel groups as "Gorman's Original Alabama Troubadours" who presented "Life On The Old Plantation-Our Swells and Belles In The Great Cakewalk."
In 1902 the city's police department adopted the three-platoon system which placed 15 men on duty at all times. The following year the fire de- partment purchased a $10,000 "horseless engine." This engine was not en- thusiastically received; it came to be known as Old Rosie and was guilty of ruining many porch and window awnings as it chugged its way to a fire, belching hot coals from its unguarded stack. The year 1929 marked the complete mechanization of the department.
The financial panic of 1907 failed to reach Portland, and the city re- mained economically stable. The annexation of Deering had relieved the city of remaining within its restrictive constitutional debt limit and made it possible to consider municipal ownership of water. High water rates had become objectionable, resulting in investigations and court proceedings un- til the issue finally became a political football. The Democrats, campaign- ing in favor of municipal ownership through a water district, won the 1907 election; the new city government appealed to the Legislature the same year and secured a charter for the Portland Water District. In view of the in- ability to agree with the Portland Water Company and interlocking com- panies on terms of purchase, the property was taken by the city by right of eminent domain; the final cost was $4,000,000.
In 1908 the city hall, rebuilt following the 'Great Fire,' was again de- stroyed by flames. By 1910 the present Cumberland County Court House had been erected; a year later the Federal Court House was completed. In August, 1912, Portland's present municipal building was dedicated, together with its auditorium in which had been installed the organ presented to the city by Cyrus H. K. Curtis. These three edifices, within a short distance of each other, form an imposing group of civic buildings.
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Up to the outbreak of the World War Portland was a port of entry for European passengers, the peak being reached in 1913 when 26,421 persons passed through the local inspection station. Most of these arrivals were im- migrants en route to Canada, whose western lands were being opened. The city's stature as a commercial center was increasing.
In July, 1916, Portland's street railway facilities were paralyzed by a labor dispute. The strike lasted five days and ended when the workers' de- mands were granted by the street railway company. The same year the so- called "Million Dollar Bridge," spanning Fore River and connecting Port- land with South Portland, replaced the earlier wooden structure.
The city's Preparedness Day Parade on March 18, 1917, intensified the war spirit of the period prior to the entry of the United States into the Eu- ropean conflict. A month after America had joined the Allies local citizens had contributed $165,000 to the American Red Cross, and the Thomas B. Reed Battery of volunteers needed only a few more recruits to bring it to war strength. The 2nd Maine Infantry was fully recruited two months be- fore any other regiment in the country. In addition to furnishing recruits for the 103rd Infantry of the 26th Division, Portland supplied a battalion of Coast Artillery and two divisions of Maine Naval Militia from the Na- tional Guard Units. Troops of the 26th Division saw foreign action at Chateau Thierry, Champagne-Marne, Aisne-Marne, St. Mihiel, and the Argonne Forest. The 56th Pioneer Infantry, known as the First Maine (Milliken) Heavy Field Artillery, one battery of which was organized in the city by Portland men, also served in France and was among those at Xivray, Belleau Woods, and Seicheprey. In all, 4,500 local men were in Federal service. The Third Infantry Maine National Guard was organized to succeed the 2nd Infantry, and two companies of this regiment were re- cruited in Portland. This regiment was not called into United States serv- ice. The present Harold T. Andrews Post of the American Legion, the first post in the city, was established in July, 1919, taking the name of the first Portland man to die in action.
While the troops were in the battlefield those who remained at home were also passing through trying times. The winter of 1917-18 was one of un- usual severity, freezing the inner waters of Casco Bay to the islands; it was a common sight to see soldiers trudging over the ice from the city to Fort Mckinley, on Diamond Island. The "Flu" added to the general misery of that distressful winter. Children and adults alike tugged makeshift sleds over the icy streets carrying home the few precious shovels of coal allowed
The 'Desert of Tents' after the 'Great Fire'
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Southwest Corner of Oak and Congress Streets (1866)
Middle Street from Cross Street after the 'Great Fire'
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Old Fluent Block on Congress Street (1870's)
View down Exchange and Lime (Market) Streets (1862) -
Portland City Hall (1866)
View Southeast from Old City Hall toward Water Front (1860's)
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Northeast Corner Oak and Congress Streets (1866)
Congress Street, looking West (1866)
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CHAS. H. FORD A CO PRINTERS COC: WORK - FAIR PRICES!
O.M.& D.W.NASIL. STOVES.RANGES FURNACES. Steam Hot Water A Combination Heaters. KITCHEN HGALLEY FURNISHING GOODS. funding and General Piping
Chas.
ICE CREAM SODA
Exchange Street (1894)
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Forest Avenue North from Park Avenue (1870)
CATARACT 2
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Early Portland Fire Engine
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History
them. Although local munition works and shipyards were paying almost fabulous wages, the recipients were forced to pay sky-high prices for com- modities. Small quantities of sugar could be obtained only with ration cards; white flour could be purchased only with an equal quantity of dark flour. Women and girls attended classes at the local Y. W. C. A. in which they were taught to knit socks, sweaters, and mittens for the soldiers. Crowds flocked to the Grand Trunk Railroad Station to watch the thous- ands of Canadian troops disembark and march to the docks where giant transports waited to convey them across the sea. Commercial Street had the air of a misplaced rodeo as cowboys accompanying their cattle from the West whooped and drove herds of steers from the trains to the cattle ships en route to Europe. To safeguard against sabotage and espionage, re- stricted zones were established at the water front below Fore Street. The signing of the Armistice, November 11, 1918, was the signal for mad re- joicing as hysterical throngs crowded the squares and snake-danced to the medley of blaring whistles and clanging bells, intoxicated with joy that the war was over.
Shortly after the Armistice Portland's taxpayers took up cudgels against the existing mayoralty form of city government and clamored for a change to the council-manager form of administration. The foundation for this move had been laid in 1893 when the incumbent mayor, James Phinney Baxter, appointed a committee to draft a new charter under which a small council would replace the mayor-alderman system. Baxter's plan was defeated. The sentiment toward a change in civic government, however, flared to white heat in 1922-23 with the Gannett press vigorously carrying the torch. Advocates for the change charged that the loose business methods of the adminstration were "killing investment and freezing capital by a tyranny of assessment which reeks with glaring inequalities." In addition, the adminstration was charged with being responsible for the hazardous fire conditions which had been scored by the National Board of Fire Un- derwriters. Those opposing the council-manager form of government ob- jected because all this muck-raking "traduced the fair name of Portland." They claimed that public interest in city affairs would flag when only one official was elected annually, and bent every effort to keep the proposed charter from being submitted to the voters of the city. However, the fact that the tax rate was higher than that of most cities of the country, plus a huge bonded indebtedness and a staggering per capita cost of maintenance operation and debt service forced the issue. It was charged that opponents
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of this measure attempted to have the bill changed in the Maine Legislature by eliminating its essential features. Despite determined opposition, the new charter was finally approved in September, 1923. On December 10 of the same year the council-manager form of government became effective, and Harry A. Brinkerhoff was appointed first city manager.
During the heat of the 1923 political battle the Maine State Pier was erected on the water front at a cost of $1,500,000. The creation of the Port of Portland Authority in 1929, together with the new pier, existing agen- cies, wharves, and terminal facilities enabled Portland to be included in the U. S. War Department's survey of 1934-35 as one of the principal ports on the Atlantic Coast.
In 1928 the first city manager was succeeded by James E. Barlow, the present manager. Two years later the city's annual report recorded: "Our City is both financially and economically sound. To confirm this state- ment ... attention is called to the fact that the bonds and notes of the City of Portland find a ready market at the most favorable rates."
Portland's splendid trees which lined the streets and shaded the parks were the origin of the name "The Forest City." On December 19, 1929, "The Forest City" was subjected to the most severe sleet storm in over half a century, thick coats of ice damaging nearly 15,000 trees.
Along with the rest of the country, Portland entered the 1930's on the heels of the "Panic of '29." Not until the Bank Holiday of March 4, 1933, was the depression keenly realized locally. The people of Portland were forced to wait two weeks before commercial banking was resumed in the city, a period of severe hardship as 75 percent of the local people had their funds tied up in the closed banks. It was said that "Portland was more nearly paralyzed than any other of the large cities in the country .... " Three of the city's banks failed to open March 15; one of these had been the largest financial institution in the State. Portland steered through the storm of the worst depression in national history with the assistance of the various Federal Government relief agencies embraced in the Civil Works Administration, Federal Emergency Relief Adminstration, Works Prog- ress Administration, Public Works Administration, and the Work Projects Administration.
Three times in three hundred-odd years of its corporate existence, the settlement on Casco Neck experienced near-destruction. Its people refused to admit defeat and doggedly and courageously rebuilt. Today that spirit is an integral part of the heritage of the citizens of Portland.
RESURGAM
SIGILLUM CIVITATIS PORTLANDIAE
GOVERNMENT
When Portland was part of Falmouth township and known as The Neck,' town meetings were always held here and representatives were fur- nished to the General Court of Massachusetts. In the early 1780's a meas- ure was introduced to set off 'The Neck' as an independent town; six years later the act of incorporation was passed, and the new Town of Portland was born. When the District of Maine petitioned for admission to the Union as a State, it became an unwilling party in the controversial Mis- souri Compromise (see History), but in 1820 President James Monroe's signature on the Maine Bill made the new State of Maine a reality, separate and distinct from its mother State, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Portland became the capital of the new State and held the honor until 1827 when the capital site was permanently removed to Augusta, although legis- lative sessions were continued in Portland until 1832 when the new capitol building in Augusta was completed.
In July, 1828, a petition was presented to the selectmen of Portland ask- ing that measures be taken for adopting a city government, but when the proposal was submitted to a vote, the townspeople defeated it by a large majority. A city charter, however, was finally accepted by the voters on April 30, 1832, and the municipality was divided into seven wards with a board of seven aldermen and a common council of 21. Andrew L. Emer- son, chairman of the selectmen, was elected the first mayor.
With numerous amendments the original charter remained in effect until 1923 when Portland adopted the council-manager form of government. An election was held in September of that year with the new charter becoming effective the following December 10.
During the mayoralty (1893-96) of James P. Baxter a committee had been
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appointed to draft a new charter for Portland. Baxter also had recom- mended an efficient council form of government, but his plan was defeated. In 1921 proponents for the city-manager form of government brought out a pamphlet composed of questions and answers relative to the system, show- ing that a maximum of service could be had at a minimum cost. This brought the matter to a head and resulted in action favoring the council- manager form of government.
Under the present system, the council is the legislative head of the city and the manager is the administrative head. The duties of the city mana- ger include responsibility for carrying out the council's orders, the enforce- ment of the laws, and the submission of a detailed budget from which an appropriation bill is made by the council. His appointments, subject to confirmation by the council, are: commissioner of public works, city elec- trician, chief of police, chief of the fire department, secretary to overseers of the poor, city physician upon recommendation by the health officer, in- spector of buildings, and all other department heads whose position may be created by ordinance. Unless otherwise provided for by statute the mana- ger, upon recommendation by department heads, appoints all minor officers and employees, and is responsible for the administration of all departments.
Five members elected at large, one each year, compose the city council, each councillor serving five years. They elect a chairman who acts for the city in ceremonial functions. Besides being a legislative body the council serves as the Portland Park Commission, the Portland Recreation Com- mission, and the Portland Overseers of the Poor. The following officers and boards are appointed by a majority ballot of the council: city manager, city clerk, corporation counsel, treasurer and tax collector, auditor, sealer of weights and measures, health officer, and nine constables at large. The council also appoints three assessors of taxes, three trustees for Evergreen Cemetery, and three members of the Portland Civil Service Commission. Acting upon the advice of the two major local political parties, the coun- cil appoints two of the three members of the board of registration, the chair- man of which is appointed by the Governor.
The Portland School Committee, elected on a nonpartisan ballot by the voters at large, consists of seven members with three-year terms. The city council selects one of its members as chairman of the school committee each year. This committee appoints the superintendent of schools who, in con- junction with committeemen, appoints school teachers to the public elemen- tary and high schools of the city.
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Government
The municipal court holds daily sessions, except on Sundays and holidays. The court's judge and recorder are appointed by the Governor, the re- corder having authority to preside over court in the absence of the judge. In some cases a deputy judge is appointed by the magistrate. County at- torneys, elected by the people, are the prosecutors, and they in turn appoint their own assistants. County criminal cases are presented to the municipal court for findings; if beyond the jurisdiction of this court to sentence and if probable cause be established the defendant is bound over to the grand jury and prosecuted in the Superior Court by the Attorney General of the State, the county attorney or his assistants. Civil cases limited to $300 in jurisdiction are triable in the Portland Municipal Court and may reach the Superior Court by appeal. There are ten terms of the Superior Court at Portland each year, three of them criminal. The Supreme Judicial Court sits each month at Portland, four of its terms as a Law Court, the court of last resort in both civil and criminal matters.
The history of Portland's police department goes back to April, 1797, when at a town meeting it was voted "to have one Inspector of Police." Three years later a Town Watch was established, consisting of six officers for night patrol only. In 1847 the City Marshal was directed "to appoint two deputies whose duty it was to prevent all violations of the Sabbath," and two years later the Portland Police Department was formally organized. It included two deputy marshals and such constables as were deemed neces- sary, "who shall carry with them a rattle and a staff, and wear a polished leather badge with the word 'Police' in silver plated letters thereon." In 1860 this day force was fitted with uniforms. Not until the installation of a signal system in 1887 did the "leather-medal cops" have any close con- tact with headquarters. When the horse-drawn patrol wagon was sup- planted by a motor patrol in 1911, skeptics insisted that the patrol wagon horses should be maintained because of "a doubt regarding the efficiency of a gas-eating 'Black Maria.'" By this time the city marshal had become the chief of the police department and an eight-hour shift for patrolmen had been adopted. In 1913 the present $85,000 modern police building was erected. The same year a police boat for harbor patrol was acquired and is at present administered in co-operation with South Portland. The city's present police force consists of 105 officers and patrolmen, but may in emer- gencies be enlarged by trained reserves.
To insure better protection the townspeople of Falmouth voted on March 29, 1768, to appoint several fire-wards whose duty it should be to look after
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Portland City Guide
and direct citizens during fires. The emblem of office was a long staff, giv- ing them full authority. The first fire engine arrived here from England in 1787 and was probably purchased by community subscription, since in November of that year the citizens considered at a town meeting an article "to see if the town will raise any money to build an engine house and pay what may be due for freight, insurance, etc., on an engine, lately purchased by inhabitants of said [Falmouth] town, and consider any matters pertain- ing to said engine." The act establishing the Portland Fire Department was passed by the legislature in 1830 and was immediately adopted by the town. The alarm signal system was installed in 1867, being among the first in the country. Portland's fire department today is equipped with modern appa- ratus and a fire fighting force of 120 men. The equipment consists of ten pumpers, three aerial trucks, two city service trucks, and one squad wagon. The city's fireboat (see Points of Interest), claimed to be the first Diesel motor pumper in the world, was built in 1931 at East Boothbay. The de- sign has since been copied by other municipalities and duplicates have been built for export to China and the Soviet Union.
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