Maine Memory Network

Airship disaster, Waterville, 1908

Courtesy of Henry Gartley, an individual partner Date: 1908-09-02 Location: Waterville Media: Photographic print

Port of Portland's Custom House and Collectors of Customs

The collector of Portland was the key to federal patronage in Maine, though other ports and towns had collectors. Through the 19th century, the revenue was the major source of Federal Government income. As in Colonial times, the person appointed to head the custom House in Casco Bay was almost always a leading community figure, or a well-connected political personage.