Maine Memory Network

Advertising card, Portland Packing Co., ca. 1870

Contributed by: Maine Historical Society Date: circa 1867 Location: Portland Media: Ink on paper

Evening Express motorboat, Portland, 1922

Contributed by: Maine Historical Society/MaineToday Media Date: 1922 Location: Portland Media: Glass Negative

Storage, Portland Pier, Portland, 1924

Owner in 1924: Proprietors of Portland Pier Use: Storage

Workshop, Portland Pier, Portland, 1924

Owner in 1924: Proprietors of Portland Pier Use: Workshop

Workshop for Maine School for the Blind, Portland, 1908

Contributed by: Maine Historical Society Date: 1908 Location: Portland Client: Maine School for the Blind Architect: Frederick A. Tompson

Sketch for Club Rooms for the Portland Farmer's Club, Portland, ca. 1922

Contributed by: Maine Historical Society Date: circa 1922 Location: Portland Client: Portland Farmer's Club Architect: Poor & Thomas

Home: The Longfellow House & the Emergence of Portland

The Wadsworth-Longfellow house is the oldest building on the Portland peninsula, the first historic site in Maine, a National Historic Landmark, home to three generations of Wadsworth and Longfellow family members -- including the boyhood home of the poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. The history of the house and its inhabitants provide a unique view of the growth and changes of Portland -- as well as of the immediate surroundings of the home.

Portland Hotels

Since the establishment of the area's first licensed hotel in 1681, Portland has had a dramatic, grand and boisterous hotel tradition. The Portland hotel industry has in many ways reflected the growth and development of the city itself. As Portland grew with greater numbers of people moving through the city or calling it home, the hotel business expanded to fit the increasing demand.

Portland Water District

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Greater Portland Landmarks

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Portland in the 1940s
by Carol Norton Hall

As a young woman in Portland during WWII, the presence of servicemen was life changing.

Portland Bars: Carlo's and Boothby Square
by anonymous

Carlo Giobbi on his family's Portland Bars: Carlo's and Boothby Square

Portland History: Lemuel Moody and the Portland Observatory

Grade Level: 3-5 Content Area: Social Studies
Lemuel Moody and the Portland Observatory Included are interesting facts to share with your students and for students, an interactive slide show available on-line at Maine Memory Network. The "Images" slide show allows students to place historical images of the Observatory in a timeline. Utilizing their observation skills students will place these images in chronological order by looking for changes within the built environment for clues. Also available is the "Maps" slide show, a series of maps from key eras in Portland's history. Students will answer the questions in the slide show to better understand the topography of Portland, the need for an Observatory and the changes in the landscape and the population centers.

Portland History: "My Lost Youth" - Longfellow's Portland, Then and Now

Grade Level: 6-8, 9-12 Content Area: English Language Arts, Social Studies
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow loved his boyhood home of Portland, Maine. Born on Fore Street, the family moved to his maternal grandparents' home on Congress Street when Henry was eight months old. While he would go on to Bowdoin College and travel extensively abroad, ultimately living most of his adult years in Cambridge, Massachusetts, he never forgot his beloved Portland. Years after his childhood, in 1855, he wrote "My Lost Youth" about his undiminished love for and memories of growing up in Portland. This exhibit, using the poem as its focus, will present the Portland of Longfellow's boyhood. In many cases the old photos will be followed by contemporary images of what that site looked like 2004. Following the exhibit of 68 slides are five suggested lessons that can be adapted for any grade level, 3–12.