Union Wharf
Created by Lyman Moore Middle School students
Item: 12535 | more info
Title: View of Portland harbor by moonlight, ca. 1905
Contributor: Maine Historical Society
Union Wharf is one of the oldest structures in Portland, Maine. Throughout its history it has been through a fire that almost destroyed the whole city, a sea battle that killed two captains, and the threat of German U-boats.
Union Wharf is still a monument to the people who built it. They used horse wagons to move rocks, dirt and other materials to make the wharf. They used more than 3,500 tons of lumber for the wharf, which would soon extend far into the bay.
At the beginning of Union Street a breastwork was built. A breastwork is a dock that is made of stones and rubble where ships loaded and unloaded their materials.
The Portland Harbor was a busy place in the late 1700s. For example, in 1793 twenty-three schooners, twenty sloops, and thirteen ships docked in the port that year.