The First Maine State House, Portland, ca. 1832
Item 14660 info
Maine Historical Society and Maine State Museum
When Maine achieved statehood in 1820, residents no longer qualified for membership in the Massachusetts Historical Society. From March 15, 1820 to the founding of the Maine Historical Society on February 5, 1822, Maine residents were without a repository for their history. Forty-nine men passed the "Act to Incorporate the Maine Historical Society" with twenty-four more members joining in the first year. The White, affluent founders lived in communities from York to Lubec.
The Senate Chamber of the original Maine State House in Portland served as Maine Historical Society's first location from February to December of 1822. In 1832, Anna M. Bucknam painted a watercolor of the State House, seen to the right, as it looked in 1820. Also visible are the Cumberland County Court House, built in 1816, and the spire of the old First Parish Church on the right. The Portland Academy appears on the left. The Great Fire of 1866 destroyed the old State House, but Maine’s governmental meetings had previously moved to Augusta, named the new state capital in 1827.
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