beforeafter

Historic photo from the Press Herald archives housed at the Portland Public Library; contemporary photo by Gordon Chibroski, Staff Photographer.

Two views of 883 Congress St., in 1941 and in 2014. The site is currently home to a medical office building across the street from the Maine Medical Center parking garage.

The older photo is dated on Dec. 5, 1941, and was apparently unused in print — perhaps because the week’s newspapers were crowded with headlines about the nation’s entry into World War II. The surprise Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor would occur just two days after this photograph was taken.

The historic photograph comes from the Portland Room collection at the Portland Public Library, where the photographic negatives from the Portland Press Herald, Maine Sunday Telegram and Portland Evening Express are being archived and cataloged. In Flashback, we’ll periodically share some of our favorites from this collection, which spans from the 1930s to the 1990s. See more at www.pressherald.com/flashback.


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