10 Historic Places to Visit in Greater Portland This Summer

It’s not too late to get out and enjoy summer in Maine! What are your plans for the last few weeks of Summer? Why not visit some of Greater Portland’s historic sites this year? Here are some suggestions:

1. Come visit us at the Portland Observatory! In 1807 Captain Lemuel Moody (1768-1846), ordered construction of this octagonal, 86-foot high tower on Munjoy Hill to serve as a communication station for Portland’s bustling harbor. It was a commercial venture designed to give a competitive edge to ship owners who paid Moody a subscription fee of $5.00 a year to alert them when their ships were arriving.

2. Everyone knows to visit Portland Headlight, probably the most well-known light house in Maine. But have you visited the children's garden or walked along the cliffs to visit the Ecology Project at Fort Williams? Fort Williams Park is open year-round from sunrise to sunset and maintained by the citizens of Cape Elizabeth for all to enjoy. While it’s gorgeous on a sunny day, it’s even a great place to visit on a cloudy or foggy summer day too.

3. On a hot summer evening take a stroll through Fort Preble (1808) to enjoy cool ocean breezes. Occupied during the War of 1812 and the Civil War, the fort was sold in 1952 to the State of Maine and is now the campus of Southern Maine Community College. Some of Fort Preble's original early 20th Century brick buildings (including officers' quarters, barracks and a fire station), along with perimeter casemates, remain and are in a good state of preservation. Don’t forget to walk out to Spring Point Ledge Light built near the fort in 1897.

4. You can use our self-guided interactive maps to explore Greater Portland anytime! Our online maps can be used to take a virtual tour from your computer, or you can use them on your phone as you walk around a local neighborhood.

5. Explore Fort Gorges! Named after Sir Ferdinando Gorges, Fort Gorges was built 1861-1868 by Ruben Smart and is modeled after Fort Sumter in Charleston, South Carolina. Fort Gorges was planned and constructed as one of three forts in Portland Harbor in reaction to the threat of foreign naval powers, initially provoked by the War of 1812. The Friends of Fort Gorges group is actively building awareness and raising funds to preserve the fort.

6. Take a tour of Eastern Cemetery! Spirits Alive has also developed a virtual tour of the cemetery that you can view while lounging in your hammock or take with you when you visit the cemetery on your own whenever the gates are open between Memorial Day and Labor Day.

7. Sail on a historic schooner! Sailing on a windjammer is the perfect way to experience the beauty of the Maine coast, complete with lighthouses, seals, and seabirds. Windjammers Bagheera, Wendameen, or Timberwind were built in Maine and are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

8. Pack a picnic basket - or better yet order lunch or dinner to go from a local business - and enjoy your meal in one of Portland’s historic parks. Catch a sunset from newly designated historic Fort Sumner park, watch the ducks play in Deering Oaks pond, or enjoy the stunning view from the Eastern Promenade.

9. Mackworth Island is the former home of James Phinney Baxter and of his son, Governor Percival Baxter, and was deeded to the State of Maine in 1943. Currently it is the site of the Baxter School for the Deaf. The island is a legislated bird sanctuary and is connected to Falmouth by a causeway at the mouth of the Presumpscot River. The island is open to visitors from dawn to dusk.

10. The Cumberland and Oxford Canal was opened in 1832 to connect the largest lakes of southern Maine with the seaport of Portland, Maine. The canal followed the Presumpscot River from Sebago Lake through the towns of Standish, Windham, Gorham, and Westbrook. The Canal diverged from the river at Westbrook to reach the navigable Fore River estuary and Portland Harbor.

    The Fore River Sanctuary is the site of the former Cumberland and Oxford Canal. You can walk along the remains of the towpath and see the repair basin, a man-made pond dug for the canal. The nature sanctuary is also the home of Jewell Falls, Portland’s only natural waterfall.

    You can also see elements of the canal and towpath in Gambo Preserve. Access the preserve from trail heads in Windham near Gambo Dam or from Gorham’s Shaw Park.

April 21st Meeting of Portland's Historic Preservation Board

Some big new construction projects will be discussed at tonight’s Historic Preservation Board meeting. Two new housing projects, one for families and one for seniors, on Winter Street are part of the proposed Mercy Hospital Redevelopment. The other agenda item is a new residential tower downtown at 200 Federal Street. Read Landmark’s comments for the public hearing below.

200 Federal Street

Greater Portland Landmarks supports the proposed new mixed use building at 200 Federal Street. We are pleased to see that the design progressed to include a number of design revisions that provide more relief, depth, masonry patterns, and architectural interest in the building, especially at the base. We agree with the staff finding that the design is conservative, but the base and tower form a well-integrated, contextually appropriate proposal that meets the design standards.

The staff report mentions minor concerns about the cohesiveness of the Federal Street façade. The seating area to the east of the tower’s main entrance provides an amenity that in our opinion is a welcome addition to the street front. As has been discussed in planning board meetings, this building’s residents will likely be using alternative forms of transportation. The small seating area will be a useful place to wait for a ride with a friend or family member, a rideshare like Lyft or Uber, or to meet a friend before walking to dinner or other activity downtown. While not another storefront window, we think this is a valuable amenity conveniently located by the building entrance, and not so long of a blank wall that it will negatively impact the pedestrian experience.  

144 State Street

Greater Portland Landmarks is pleased that the proposed redevelopment of the Mercy Hospital campus offers the opportunity to enhance the existing neighborhood and reknit the streetscapes of Winter, State, and Spring Streets. While the proposed building is longer and slightly taller than its 2 ½ to three story neighbors in our opinion it is not out of scale with its context.

Like Winter Street, Park Street is a narrow street and the blocks on the west side have frontage on State Street. Park Row on the west side of the street is generally four plus stories as the entry levels to each unit are elevated above the sidewalk. On the east side of the street, with the exception of the church steeple, buildings are 2 ½ to three stories, a similar relationship to that proposed on Winter Street.

a typical house in Park Row, Park Street Portland (1924 City of Portland )

Park Row is 376 feet in length, longer than its immediate neighbors and longer than the proposed Winter Street building. In our opinion this historic precedent is compatible in scale and mass to its neighbors and creates a welcoming pedestrian experience with its transitional space between the sidewalk and building entrances. While this transition space is more generous in width than the Winter Street proposal, the proposed building takes advantage of the site’s topography to have a few raised entrances and a raised base similar to the Park Row example.

The strong fourth floor cornice of the design presented in the workshop helped to unify the overall building design (and is more similar to the historic precedent of Park Row) in our opinion. As raised in the staff report, the revised third floor cornice visually competes with the projecting window hoods. Perhaps these hoods are too deep? Or perhaps the cornice should be at the top of the building?

The staff report also raised the issue of the window hierarchy. In several neighboring row house developments, the primary ‘public’ rooms were on the second level, as can be evidenced externally by the larger window openings on the second floor of Park Row and the row on Pine Street at the end of Winter Street.

We encourage the Historic Preservation Board to take these taller and longer historic precedents into consideration in their deliberations. The proposed building on Winter Street will also be a visual transition on Spring Street between its lower scale residential neighbors and the much taller hospital building on State Street.

We hope that the Historic Preservation Board will approve the proposed new housing, but we encourage them to condition their approval to include review of the window specifications, location of building mounted utilities and mechanical elements, and the exterior lighting.

Visualizing the impact of urban renewal in Bayside

By Kate Burch

One of the topics we are asked about most frequently at Landmarks is the widespread demolitions in the Bayside neighborhood during Portland’s urban renewal efforts. Like cities across the country, urban renewal was in full swing in the 1950s-1970s in Portland, with the city eager to clear neighborhoods designated as slums and to improve automobile infrastructure by building high-traffic arterial streets and parking lots.

Bayside was particularly affected by urban renewal policies. The neighborhood around Franklin Street was a dense, mixed-use neighborhood of residences, religious buildings, and stores with Jewish and Italian immigrant communities. This map from Portland’s 1943 report on Bayside shows how the city graded various neighborhoods, from best (A rating) to worst (E rating means the neighborhood is a slum.) These assessments were used to justify the razing of entire neighborhoods and move residents to new housing, fragmenting these communities. Families were compensated for relocation and offered additional relocation assistance.

Driving on Franklin Street today, it can be difficult to visualize what the area looked like before urban renewal demolition. This map is an overlay of the Sanborn Fire Insurance Company’s 1909 maps of the area to demonstrate what the streets looked like before the bulldozers came through.

View the full map as a PDF by clicking here.

To provide a better picture of what these neighborhoods were like, this next map reconstructs the buildings in from the 1909 Sanborn maps, color-coded according to use and overlaid on a contemporary map. You can see the dense residential blocks anchored by stores and religious buildings (both an Italian Catholic Church and a synagogue) in a walkable, mixed-use neighborhood.

View the full map as a PDF by clicking here.

You can explore the neighborhood buildings that were spared by the bulldozers in our West Bayside Virtual Walking Tour.

To learn more about urban renewal in Bayside, check out these resources:

Vine-Deer-Chatham Project, 1959 report

Does Bayside Need Rebuilding?, 1944 report

Model Cities, Housing, and Renewal Policy in Portland, Maine

1909 Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps of Portland, Maine

Historic Preservation in the Urban Renewal Era (Greater Portland Landmarks blog)

Gorham's Historic Districts

Gorham Academy (part of the Gorham Campus Historic District), c.1880

By Alessa Wylie

The Town of Gorham is home to not one, not two, but three historic districts, each showcasing different aspects of the Town’s history. South Street Historic District (1988) reflects neighborhood growth, Gorham Historic District (1992) reveals village development, and Gorham Campus Historic District (1978) illustrates educational history in Maine.

European colonists first settled in Gorham in 1736, but it was not until after 1760 that significant growth took place, resulting in its incorporation in 1764. The town center was laid out at the junction of Main and South Streets (Maine State Routes 25 and 114) in the 1750s, with a small cemetery and schoolhouse just to its south. The area south of the cemetery, along South Street, was originally farmland, but gradually developed as a residential area in the early 19th century.

Baxter Memorial Library

The South Street Historic District was designated in 1988 and is a nearly rectangular area of about nine acres. It contains 20 buildings constructed between about 1790-1840 that show remarkable consistency in the overall form of the buildings during this 50-year period.  neighborhood. Prominent in the district is the Baxter House, now a museum, which is notable as the home of two of Maine's governors, James Phinney Baxter and Percival Baxter. It stands next to the 1907 Colonial Revival Baxter Memorial Library, the only non-residential building in the district, which was a gift to the town by James Phinney Baxter.

The Gorham Historic District is roughly L-shaped, encompassing the town center, and includes a small cluster of religious and commercial buildings at School and Main Streets, with some residential properties on streets spreading from the center. It’s comprised of 19th and 20th century buildings and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1992.

Architecturally, the Gorham Historic District reflects the wide variety of styles that were popular from the early 19th century through the 1930s, including Federal and Greek Revival buildings. There is a single Queen Anne building and a handful of Colonial Revival houses too. The Italianate style is well represented in the district, principally in commercial, fraternal and religious structures. Among the most notable of these are the former Masonic Hall and the Lewis McLellan Block both of which were erected in 1875 from plans drawn by Portland architect Charles H. Kimball. The district abuts the Gorham Campus Historic District.

The Gorham Campus Historic District encompasses seven buildings that make up the historic core of the campus of the University of Southern Maine in Gorham. Built between 1806 and 1931, they reflect the varied academic history of the campus, and were listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978. The district is important not only for the architectural merit of the buildings, but also because the buildings illustrate educational development in Maine. Beginning as Gorham Academy in 1803, it grew to become the Gorham Academy and Teachers Institute in 1847. Almost 100 years later, in 1945, it became Gorham State Teachers College and now is part of the University of Maine system.

Our new virtual Gorham Walking Tour is a great way to explore all the districts. Check it out today!

#InMyDistrict - Historic Tax Credits in Greater Portland

It’s Preservation Action’s virtual Preservation Advocacy Week, and we’re joining the #InMyDistrict campaign to show the impact of Historic Preservation Tax Credits in Maine!  

The Federal Historic Preservation Tax Incentives program encourages private sector investment in the rehabilitation and re-use of historic buildings. It is one of the nation’s most successful and cost-effective community revitalization programs. Each year approximately 1,200 projects are approved. Since 1976, the program has leveraged over $73 billion in private investment to preserve 40,380 historic properties nationwide. This program preserves our architectural heritage while stimulating economic growth by bringing new life to under-utilized properties, and is often used to help create affordable housing and bring commercial investment to neighborhoods. 

Here are some recent projects in our district (ME01) that used the Federal Historic Preservation Tax Credit to create affordable housing and commercial space. 

The Motherhouse (Portland)

The St. Joseph’s Convent, also known as the Motherhouse, is a significant architectural landmark in Deering Center. Completed in 1909, the Classical Revival building was designed by the Boston architectural firm of Chickering and O’Connell, one of New England’s preeminent ecclesiastic design firms. The building was the principal residence for the Sisters of Mercy until it closed in 2005 due to the dwindling numbers of Sisters residing in the building. The Motherhouse is a key feature of the neighborhood and for almost 100 years served as an important educational, residential, and spiritual center for the Sisters of Mercy in the local community.

Developers Collaborative and Sea Coast Management leveraged federal and state tax credits to complete a complex adaptive reuse project that converted the space into 66 affordable and 22 market rate housing units for seniors.  The project preserved much of the character and history of the property. Its grand stairways, stained glass windows, three-story chapel with altar, and grand organ have been restored and preserved. Interior window trim, wainscoting, and ceiling details were removed and reinstalled after the application of insulation and utilities.
Stevens Square at Baxter Woods: The Motherhouse

Hyacinth Place (Westbrook)

The Saint Hyacinth’s School (1893) and Convent (1921) were built on Walker and Brown Streets in Westbrook to serve the French-Canadian immigrants that settled in Westbrook to work in the area’s mills. The School was designed by Coburn and Son of Lewiston and the convent was designed by Timothy O’Connell of Boston.  The school closed in 1974. The buildings were then home to a Center of Religious Education, a House of Prayer, St. Hyacinth Historical Society, and the Westbrook Food Pantry before being vacated. The buildings were long neglected by deferred maintenance. 

In 2013, the buildings were listed in the National Register of Historic Places for their architectural and educational significance and association with Westbrook’s Franco-American community. Financed in part by Federal and State Historic Tax Credits, the vacant and neglected buildings were restored and the interiors rehabilitated for use as 37 units of affordable housing. 

Avesta Housing: Hyacinth Place

Bessey Commons (Scarborough)

The Elwood G. Bessey School (1927) in Scarborough was converted in 2010 to 54 affordable apartments for seniors, financed in part by Federal Historic Tax Credits. The project was completed by a developer with a connection to the property: Cynthia Milliken Taylor of Housing Initiatives attended the Bessey School when it was an elementary school, and her father attended Bessey when it was Scarborough High School.

Bessey Commons

Southgate (Scarborough)

The historic Southgate farmhouse (1805) in Scarborough is one of the town's oldest structures and has had a variety of uses over two centuries, including a "gentleman’s farm" and country retreat, a restaurant and inn, and rental housing. The house was originally owned by Dr. Robert Southgate, who moved to Scarborough from Massachusetts in 1771 and builder of the first ‘turnpike’ in Maine across Scarborough Marsh, today’s US Route 1. In 2014, Avesta Housing purchased the property, and it was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2018 which allowed Avesta to use tax credits as one of the financing tools. The redevelopment project created 38 units of affordable housing within a half-mile of a grocery store, bank, elementary school, bus stop, and drugstore. 

Avesta Housing: Southgate

96 Federal Street (Portland)

The brick apartment building at 96 Federal Street (1867) housed generations of immigrant families in the 19th and 20th centuries until it fell into disrepair and was condemned and abandoned. In 2015, developer Dan Black worked with Maine Preservation and Greater Portland Landmarks to expand the recently-approved India Street Historic District to include the building. State and Federal Historic Tax Credits enabled the developer to save this building and complete extensive stabilization and rehabilitation necessary to create a 6-unit rental building.

Maine Preservation Honor Award: 96 Federal Street

96 Federal Street before restoration

And after!

Engine Company No. 9 (17 Arbor St, Portland)

Engine Company Number Nine Firehouse (1902, also known as the Arbor Street Firehouse) was built shortly after Deering was annexed to Portland. This station housed Engine Number 9 and Ladder Number 4 until 1972, when they moved to a new station on Forest Avenue. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2010.  The former home of Portland’s Parks Department, it was sold by the City and rehabilitated into new commercial offices, financed in part by Historic Tax Credits, in 2012. 

Grand Trunk Office Building (Portland)

This three-story Neoclassical style brick building, built in 1903, is the only building which survives from the extensive Grand Trunk Railroad complex in Portland. It was vacant and derelict when Gorham Savings Bank and development partners purchased the building. Using Historic Tax Credits, the building’s interior and exterior were restored, and it has become the bank’s busy, new downtown Portland office. 

share the impact of htcs in our district with our representatives!

Ask our members of Congress to support the Historic Tax Credit as a part of future stimulus legislation by copying this template and sending it to our representatives:

Contact Senator Angus King

Contact Senator Susan Collins

Contact Representative Chellie Pingree

As you consider what programs will help to stimulate the economy in the next round of recovery legislation, I urge you to support the Historic Tax Credit program and the provisions of the HTC-GO Act (H.R. 2825/S. 2615). Please support additional proposed enhancements including a temporary increase in the value of the HTC from 20% to 30% as well. The HTC is a proven economic development tool in Maine and across the nation. These changes would increase rehabilitation activities, create jobs, and support communities across Maine. 

In Maine a recent study highlighted that since 2008, the Federal Historic Tax Credit in conjunction with the Maine Historic Tax Credit (HTC), has generated $525 million in construction investment through more than 100 rehabilitation projects, spanning 3.6 million square feet of commercial and residential space, and have created or preserved 1,911 housing units (of which nearly 1,300 were affordable.)

In Greater Portland historic tax credit projects are helping to provide much needed affordable housing, especially for seniors, and facilitating the reuse of existing buildings in our town and city centers. For example, the complex adaptive reuse of the Motherhouse (St. Joseph's Convent, in Portland), financed in part by historic tax credits, created 66 units of affordable housing and 22 market-rate units, all for seniors. The Saint Hyacinth's school in Westbrook, formerly vacant, was rehabilitated to create 37 units of affordable housing. And in Scarborough, the redevelopment of the historic Southgate Farmhouse created 38 units of affordable housing within a half-mile of a grocery store, bank, elementary school, bus stop, and drugstore. Please support this program that works for Maine and puts Maine people to work. 

March 3rd Meeting of Portland's Historic Preservation Board

PUBLIC HEARING - Eastern Cemetery Marker Replacement

Greater Portland Landmarks supports the retention of historic materials to the greatest extent feasible. We encourage all the stakeholders to consult a stone conservator prior to making a decision on this application to replace the historic table stone and to consider alternative ways to provide supplemental information about the significance of the interred individual to visitors and researchers.
For More Information>>

WORKSHOP - 200 Federal Street

Greater Portland Landmarks concurs with the staff comments, that given the eclectic character of the development’s context and the lack of strong architectural cues to inform the design, there is a greater opportunity for design freedom at this location than might be the case in a more homogeneous context like Exchange Street or Commercial Street. Buildings in the Congress Street Historic District are significant for their eclecticism of scale, construction era, architectural style, and materials. The openness of proposed three-story base stands in stark contrast to the foreboding character of the bases at One City Center, Two Monument Square, and even 400 Congress Street. The base will have the most immediate visual impact on pedestrians. We encourage the board to carefully consider the details of this portion of the building and the small pocket park as the design progress in order to enliven the pedestrian experience in this area.

Tonight we express our support for the overall massing, and the visual moves the design team has used to break down the mass when seem from a distance. We thank the applicant for the variety of views they have used to illustrate the visual impact of the proposed building on various historic landmarks, parks, and historic areas.
For More Information>>

WORKSHOP - 275 State Street

The applicant wants to remove the exterior fire escape that was added in the late 20th century.

Landmarks concurs with the staff report findings that the removal of the added fire escape provides an opportunity to return key elements of this Colonial Revival residential structure to its documented appearance. The 1924 tax photo of the building should set the direction for any replacement work and help to guide decisions where design modifications are necessary.

For More Information>>

9 Ways to Learn about Black History in Maine

February is Black History Month, and you can celebrate by exploring these online resources about the sites of our region’s rich African-American past.

Maine Baseball Hall of Fame inductee John Gaskill and his family were among the residents of Munjoy Hill’s Black community that you can read about on our blog. The Gaskill family home at 24 Montreal Street is currently for sale, and could be torn down by the new buyer.

Pfc. Robert Holley stationed in North Yarmouth, 1942

1. During the 19th and early 20th century, Munjoy Hill was home to a vibrant African-American neighborhood. Read about some the homes and histories of these families on our blog, in part one and part two. You can also explore these stories, along with the wider history of the Hill, in our Munjoy Hill virtual walking tour!

2. St. John & Valley Street was also historically home to a Black community. The lodging and cafes in the Green Book for Portland are located in the St. John/Valley Street neighborhood. One important resident was Moses Green, who was born into slavery in Maryland and later became the wealthiest African-American man in Maine with his real estate company that helped Black families buy homes. Explore the neighborhood with our virtual walking tour!

3. Learn about the Black Guards of Maine in an online exhibit at the Maine Historical Society. The Black Guards were African-American soldiers sent to guard the state’s railways during World War II, including in North Yarmouth. The Maine Historical Society also sells some great publications about Maine’s Black history, available here. (Another great book available online is Maine’s Visible Black History by H.H. Price and Gerald Talbot.)

4. The Abyssinian Meeting House is one of Portland’s most important landmarks. Learn more about the building’s story and the tireless efforts of the Cummings Family to restore it. Portland’s India Street neighborhood was home to a Black community with many members affiliated with the Abyssinian. Explore the history of India Street in our virtual walking tour!

5. The Atlantic Black Box Project is a collaborative endeavor to explore the history and legacy of the slave trade in New England, and uncover underrepresented histories and the origins of racial injustice in our region. Learn about the rural African-American community of Peterborough, Maine in this lecture with Dr. Kate McMahon of Atlantic Black Box. You can also explore a wealth of fascinating stories from throughout New England (including some guest posts by Landmarks!) on the ABB blog.

6. Historian Bob Greene recently recorded a lecture on Maine’s Black history with a focus on Yarmouth. Watch the video, hosted by the Yarmouth Historical Society, here!

7. Learn the fascinating story of Bishop Healy’s cottage on Little Diamond Island, Maine, in this talk by Harry Pringle for the Portland Public Library’s Sustainability Series. Healy was the first Black Catholic bishop ordained in the United States.

8. Portland’s Indigo Arts Alliance is collaborating with Atlantic Black Box on a series called ReMapping New England. Described as a “historical recovery project”, it explores public art, social activism, monument making, and collective memory. Watch the first lecture here, or register for their next event.

9. The newly launched Black in Historic Preservation collective highlights past and present contributions of Black people to the field of historic preservation, and includes the Black Preservationists Directory. You can learn about justice, equity, and representation in historic preservation by watching the University of Maryland School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation’s symposium Re-Centering the Margin: Justice and Equity in Historic Preservation. All sessions are available on YouTube here.

Portland's Chinese Community in the 1920s

By Kate Burch and Julie Ann Larry

In honor of Lunar New Year, we took a look back at the history of Portland’s Chinese community and created a map of significant sites of the Chinese community in Portland 100 years ago.

Chinese immigration to the US began in force during the mid-19th century, mostly in California and on the West Coast. One of the first documented Chinese immigrants in Portland was Ar Foo Fong, a tea merchant who came to Portland in 1860. He selected teas for George Shaw’s (founder of the Shaw’s supermarket chain) shop on Middle Street and later opened his own store on Congress Street. By the late 19th century, Portland had a small but vibrant Chinese community. The Portland newspapers reported on the celebration of the Moon Festival in 1884 and the Chinese New Year in 1895.  

Chinese communities like the one in Portland remained small due in large part to racism and legal exclusion. The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 mostly banned the immigration of Chinese laborers to the US, prevented Chinese people from becoming US citizens, and made it almost impossible for the wives or families of Chinese laborers to join them. (There were some loopholes in the law, such as immigrating via Canada, that allowed a small number of Chinese people to come to the U.S. during exclusion.) Chinese immigration and naturalization remained restricted until the mid 20th century. Racist legislation also targeted Chinese-Americans with high taxes, banning Chinese customs, and preventing the Chinese from testifying in court. 

In addition to institutional racism, Chinese-Americans also faced individual, often violent, persecution. Chinese people were run out of town, beaten, lynched, and massacred in cities and towns across the US during the 19th century. In Maine, many Chinese residents, were treated with derision and antagonism. Newspapers referred to them as “moon-eyed lepers” and “heathens”, and accused them of stealing jobs from Mainers. There are many documented assaults against Chinese-Americans and their businesses in the late 19th and early 20th centuries in Portland, with young men throwing rocks, breaking windows, stealing money from cash registers, and physically assaulting the Chinese residents. 

Toy Len Goon managed her family’s laundry at 615 Forest Ave after her husband Dogun died in 1940. All of their 8 children went on to higher education, and in 1952 she was named Mother of the Year.

Language barriers and racial discrimination barred Chinese people from working in most industries during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, which caused many to open their own businesses – restaurants, shops, and laundries. Because running a laundry was a low-status job (considered “women’s work”) with low start-up costs and little English language skills required, it was particularly popular among new Chinese immigrants. Chinese laundries first appeared in Maine in the 1880s.

Like other immigrant communities, Chinese immigrants tended to live in close-knit communities. In Portland, many restaurant and laundry employees lived above the businesses where they worked, and several buildings were known as tenements for Chinese families and single men (there were many single men and relatively few women because the Chinese Exclusion Act prevented most Chinese women from immigrating, even to join their husbands.)

Empire Restaurant on Congress Street in 1933.

Maine’s Chinese population began to shrink around midcentury. Economic downturn in Portland and the closure of Chinese laundries due to mechanization caused many of Portland’s Chinese families to move to Boston, where there was a large Chinese community and better opportunities for employment.

Take a virtual walk through Portland’s Chinese community in the 1920s here!

Portland's Chinese Community in the 1920s

We’re grateful for the research of Gary Libby and the resources provided by the Chinese-American Friendship Association of Maine and Maine Memory Network. For more information on the history of Maine’s Chinese community:

• CAFAM Chinese in Maine Archives

• Chinese in Maine (Maine Historical Society)

• Toy Len Goon: Mother of the Year (Maine Historical Society)

• Maine’s Chinese History (Bangor Daily News)

(PS: If you’re interested in the story of Chinese cuisine in America, check out the documentary The Search for General Tso!)

How Can You Provide Public Comment in a Portland City Council Meeting?

The Portland City Council is meeting remotely during the COVID-19 pandemic. City Council meetings as always are live-streamed, but you cannot provide public comment unless you use ZOOM! Landmarks will share the February 1st ZOOM meeting link and telephone numbers as soon as the meeting agenda is posted. Written public comment can continue to be submitted to the City Council via email.

Below are the steps and protocols for attending and participating in a city meeting using ZOOM. Please note that virtual participation in a meeting does not require a camera, but will require audio/speakers to listen to the meeting, as well as a microphone or telephone to participate in the public comment period of the meeting.

During the meeting, the Council will open up public comment on an agenda item. If you wish to speak you must “raise your hand” by selecting the hand icon (see below) on your computer screen or by dialing *9 on your phone. Only raise your hand when public comment is announced by the moderator. Raising your hand puts you in a queue to speak. If you decide not to speak, you can tap the icon again to lower your hand.

Use the hand icon to raise your hand in order to speak during public comment.

When it is your turn to speak, the moderator will call your name or, if you are using your phone, call out the last few digits of your phone number. You will be prompted to “unmute” yourself. Either select the unmute button on your computer screen (see below), or if you are calling in on your phone, dial *6.

When the moderator calls on you to speak, you will see a small screen similar to this appear, select “Unmute” to speak.

You will then have three minutes to speak. Please begin by stating your name and place of residence for the record. It can be helpful to write down beforehand what you want to say – or make notes on the points you’d like to make - so that you are sure to be able to have time for all you want to say. As you near the end of your three minutes, the moderator will give you a 30 second warning so you can wrap up your comments. At the end of your time, you will then be muted by the moderator.  

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If you haven’t used ZOOM before, here are the steps to join a meeting:

When joining a city meeting, type in the meeting ID # into the box, then click join.

To join the meeting using ZOOM on your computer:

1.       Click the internet link to the meeting or when in the ZOOM app, select ‘join a meeting” and enter the meeting ID when prompted (see above). The meeting ID is a 9 to 11 digit number provided on the meeting agenda listed next to “Webinar ID”.

2.       You maybe asked to enter your name, then prompted to join the meeting by tapping “join”. *Note your microphone will be muted automatically when you join the meeting.

If your computer does not have a microphone, you can call in on your phone. To dial in by phone:

1.       Dial the “Dial-In by Phone” number provided on the meeting agenda.

2.       You will be prompted to enter the meeting ID. The meeting ID is a 9 to 11 digit number provided on the agenda listed next to “Webinar ID”.

3.       You may be prompted to enter your unique participant ID. If so, just press # to skip this step.

4.       Once you have joined the meeting the following commands can be entered using your phone's key pad while in the Zoom meeting:

*6 - Toggle mute/unmute

*9 - Raise hand

If you have trouble and the moderator cannot hear you or you do not unmute yourself when called upon, the moderator will disable you temporarily and lower your raised hand, allowing the next person “in line” to speak. This will give you a chance to fix any difficulties. If you are skipped over due to technical difficulties that have been resolved, raise your hand again if you still wish to speak, and you will be added back into the queue by the moderator.

To leave the meeting, just select “Leave Meeting.”

More information on ZOOM and participating in a Portland virtual city meeting is available here!

Support the Munjoy Hill Historic District: Email City Council

The Portland City Council will hold a vote on the proposed Munjoy Hill Historic District on Monday, February 1! We need you to email Mayor Snyder and the City Council before the meeting - there are 3 new Councilors who have not heard your support!

HERE'S HOW YOU CAN HELP:

Copy these email addresses into the TO: line of your email: ksnyder@portlandmaine.gov, pali@portlandmaine.gov, tchong@portlandmaine.gov, mdion@portlandmaine.gov, afournier@portlandmaine.gov, Azarro@portlandmaine.gov, nmm@portlandmaine.gov, bsr@portlandmaine.gov, sthibodeau@portlandmaine.gov, planningboard@portlandmaine.gov
 

Use the SUBJECT: Please support the Munjoy Hill Historic District!

State your name & place of residence, and copy this message (or add your own personalized message):

Mayor Snyder and City Councilors,
I urge you to support the proposed Munjoy Hill Historic District. The district will protect those properties that reflect the unique history of the hill and its residents for the last 180 years, including immigrants from Eastern and Western Europe, Scandinavia, Africa, and the Caribbean. The district will also support sustainability and affordable housing goals established in the City’s 2017 comprehensive plan.

Hundreds of units of affordable housing, as well as new market rate units, have been built in Portland’s existing historic districts in the last five years. Portland’s historic districts provide access to federal and state Historic Tax Credits, significant funding for challenging housing projects. Reusing and improving our existing building stock will also significantly help meet our goals to cut carbon emissions, reducing the need for the manufacture and transportation of new building materials - as well as reducing the amount of building demolition materials that enter our waste stream. 

Please vote to support the district. Thank you.

SEND before noon on Friday, 1/29!

GET THE FACTS ON THE MUNJOY HILL HISTORIC DISTRICT:

See Landmarks’ comments to City Council for the 2/1 meeting and vote.

Read more about the proposed historic district here.

Learn about how historic districts positively impact affordable housing.