During World War II, an entire neighborhood of modest, single-family homes was erected near the corner of Evans Street and Highland Avenue, providing needed housing for workers who were moving to South Portland to work in the shipyards. The neighborhood was built on the site of a farm, and was named Stanwood Park in honor and memory of George M. Stanwood who once owned much of the land there and lived in the large farmhouse at 725 Highland Ave.
Let’s take a look at the life of this interesting South Portlander.
George M. Stanwood once lived in this home at 725 Highland Ave. South Portland Historical Society photo
George M. Stanwood was born in 1839 in Brunswick, the son of William and Nancy Stanwood. He was the fourth of five brothers who all grew up on the family farm in Brunswick (a sixth brother, the youngest, died at only eight months). Two of his brothers, Hugh and Robert, turned to the sea.
In December, 1860, Hugh was captain of the bark, Sea Duck, and Robert, only 20 years old, was a crew member when the vessel sank off the coast of New York – all were lost.
The oldest Stanwood brother, Charles, turned to the blacksmith trade instead; his brothers William and George initially followed in his footsteps.
In 1860, both Charles and George had traveled to Panama, where they worked on the construction of the Panama Railway. Charles had returned to Maine by 1863 and bought out the shipsmith business of Fred Hatch on Commercial Street (a shipsmith is a blacksmith who specializes in the metalwork needed for ships).
George returned shortly thereafter (he was back by 1864, when he married Mary Ross of Portland) and set up his own, separate blacksmith/shipsmith business, sharing space in Charles’ building. George partnered with Cyrus Staples, doing business as Staples and Stanwood. They then brought in Daniel P. Noyes, changing the name to Staples, Stanwood & Co. They dissolved that partnership in 1867 when Cyrus Staples decided to leave, and George and Daniel continued in business together through 1870, under the name Stanwood & Noyes.
A side view of the home at 725 Highland Ave. Note the large barns on the left in the photo. South Portland Historical Society photo
Daniel Noyes left circa 1870 and George then partnered with his brother Charles, doing business as C. and G.M. Stanwood. Their business was a busy one. One common practice in the shipbuilding business of the 1800s was for shipbuilders, shipsmiths and anyone else involved in the construction of a new ship to receive ownership shares in the ship as part of their compensation.
This was a way of financing the construction of a new ship. As owners, they would then receive a share of the profits of the ship in the future. Thus Charles and George both ended up owning shares in a number of ships that were constructed in Portland and South Portland (known as Cape Elizabeth).
Charles and George dissolved their partnership in 1873, going their separate ways, although each continued operating as a shipsmith. George Stanwood took on a new partner, Edward Fletcher, and they operated for the next decade under the name of G.M. Stanwood & Co. In 1884, George finally decided to leave the business; he sold his partnership interest to Eleazer Crowell (Fletcher and Crowell continued to operate the business for many years under the Geo. M. Stanwood & Co. name).
Workers at Geo. M. Stanwood & Co. on Commercial Street in Portland. South Portland Historical Society photo
George and Mary Stanwood then moved to Cape Elizabeth (South Portland) and started buying farmland on both sides of Highland Avenue, roughly between Evans Street and Fickett Street. They first started buying land in 1884 and the last parcel they bought was in 1899; at that point, they owned over 30 acres of land.
Their farmhouse was notable, located at 631 Highland Avenue (the street was later renumbered and is now known as 725 Highland Ave.). The farmhouse’s style was a typical New England connected farm, with two large attached barns at the rear. If you came up Evans Street, as you approached Highland Avenue, you would have seen their large fields on your right, extending from Evans Street, from the corner down to the farmhouse.
A description of the farm was found in a scrapbook at the South Portland Historical Society: “The house stands back some 50 feet from the avenue and, in front, is a well kept lawn dotted with shade trees and shrubbery. Connected with the place is one of the best kept stables to be found in the County and there is nothing lacking about it that can add to the comfort of his horses and cows…connected with the place is quite a large farm and on every part of that farm everything is kept up in a way that only money and good management can devise.”
The Stanwoods had all the usual things on their farm like cows and chickens, they grew vegetables on the land and they had fruit trees, but they were known as a horse farm. George had a keen interest in breeding race horses (trotters). In January, 1893, he raced one of his horses at an interesting winter event held on Back Cove in Portland.
According to an article in the Portland Daily Press, “The new three-fourths of a mile straight-away course is in a splendid condition, there being just enough snow on the solid ice to make it ideal sleighing and first-class footing for the horses, far preferable to the naked ice. The horsemen pronounce it a hundred percent better than Portland street and that long established winter racing ground was well nigh deserted.
This half-pint milk bottle is embossed with “Geo. W. Dunbar, So. Portland, ME.” The bottle was found by Bob and Ann Morrill, in the roots of a tree that had fallen over on Fickett Street. George Dunbar operated a dairy farm at 725 Highland Ave. in the 1930s. The Morrills donated the bottle to the South Portland Historical Society. South Portland Historical Society photo
“The double track, one for speeding southerly towards Portland, and the other for jogging back northerly in the direction of Deering, renders accident well nigh impossible. In the present run of tides the ice during the afternoon rests upon the flats, so that there is absolutely no danger of breaking through. But the ice is so thick that it is considered entirely safe with the water beneath it, which is so shallow along the course that even at high tide it is only from four to five feet deep. Teams of all descriptions were crossing and going throughout the afternoon and the lowest estimate of the number that passed in from the shell road over the now well trodden way to the ice just beyond the ball grounds was six hundred…at one time there were at least a hundred and fifty horses speeding on the course…Mr. Geo. M. Stanwood, of the firm Randall, McAllister & Co., had the fast trotter [Kitty Y], about her first appearance, and she did finely.”
When Rigby Trotting Park was in operation in South Portland, George Stanwood was well known at the track. He was an officer in the Maine Mile Track Association. After having taken care of the buildings and grounds of Rigby Park in the fall of 1897, George was elected the superintendent of Rigby Park (a newly-created position) in January, 1898.
Throughout these years while George was known for his horse stable, he worked in Portland and hired people to help run things at the farm. We know that from roughly 1893 to 1896, he hired a professional horse trainer, Mr. Alma W. Davis, to work with his horses.
George held several other jobs after selling his shipsmith business. He was elected treasurer of the town of Cape Elizabeth in 1886 and served in that position through 1888. From 1889 through 1894, he worked for Randall & McAllister coal company. After the death of Hubbard H. Nevens in October, 1894, George Stanwood took over his tea, coffee and spice company known as H.H. Nevens & Company and served as the company president through roughly 1902. Around 1903, George started working in the coal business once again, this time self-employed and working from an office building on Exchange Street. While he was self-employed in the coal business, he also was elected and served as an Alderman for the city of South Portland from 1904 to 1906. He retired around 1907.
George and Mary Stanwood sold their farm in 1920 to Robert D. Fickett. About 10 years later, Fickett sold the property and it became home to the George W. Dunbar dairy; Dunbar kept dairy cows on the farm and bottled and sold his milk under his own name.
George Stanwood died in 1927 and is buried with his wife Mary at Evergreen Cemetery in Portland. After the large property was sold a few times, it was sold to a developer during World War II who subdivided the land and had single-family homes for incoming shipyard workers built there, naming the development Stanwood Park in George Stanwood’s memory.
South Portland Historical Society offers a free Online Museum with over 16,000 images available for viewing with a keyword search. You can find it at https://sphistory.pastperfectonline.com and, if you appreciate what we do, feel free to make a donation by using the donation button on the home page. If you have photographs or other information to share about South Portland’s past, we would love to hear from you. South Portland Historical Society can be reached at 207-767-7299, by email at sphistory04106@gmail.com, or by mail at 55 Bug Light Park, South Portland, ME 04106.
Kathryn Onos DiPhilippo is executive director of the South Portland Historical Society. She can be reached at sphistory04106@gmail.com.
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