Maine Memory Network
Maine's Online Museum

Title: Sebago Post Office, 1925

Contributed by: Sebago Historical Society

Date: circa 1925

Location: Sebago

Media: Postcard

Title: Sebago Post Office desk, ca. 1915

Contributed by: Sebago Historical Society

Date: circa 1915

Location: Sebago

Media: Wood

Title: New Sweden Post Office, ca. 1938

Contributed by: New Sweden Historical Society

Date: circa 1938

Location: New Sweden

Media: Photograph

Address: 65-79 Exchange Street, Portland

Owner in 1924: U.S. Government

Use: Post Office

Address: 65-79 Exchange Street, Portland

Owner in 1924: United States Government

Use: Post Office

Address: 57-67 Beckett Street, Portland

Owner in 1924: Liberty Real Estate Assocation

Use: Garage, public

Patriotism Shared

Post office clerks began collecting strong red, white, and blue string, rolling it onto a ball and passing it on to the next post office to express their support for the Union effort in the Civil War. Accompanying the ball was this paper scroll on which the clerks wrote messages and sometimes drew images.

Urban Renewal, Urban Removal

Urban renewal, a post World War II impulse to clean up "slums" and other blights in urban areas, led both to renewed economic activities in some cities and towns in Maine and the loss of a number of grand buildings. The loss of the structures helped prompt historic preservation efforts in the state.