2 min read

Fun seekers have been drawn to roller skating for many years in Maine. From rolling around the neighborhood to hitting an indoor track or cheering at a roller derby bout, roller skating lets the good times roll.

Here are seven historical photos that show some of Maine’s roller skating history, starting in 1938.

Children with roller skates in May 1938. (Restored Portland Press Herald photo courtesy Portland Public Library Special Collections and Archives)
From left, Rose Toppi, Albert Petro, Margaret O’Brien and Edward Galli Jr. roller skate on Fore Street in Portland on Feb. 24, 1941. (Portland Press Herald photo courtesy Portland Public Library Special Collections and Archives)
A photo of a banked-track roller derby bout at the Portland Expo from the Portland Press Herald on March 31, 1970. The San Francisco Bombers competed against the Midwest Pioneers. (Portland Press Herald photo courtesy Portland Public Library Special Collections and Archives)
A pair of old roller skates left behind from the days of roller skating at the Boothbay Opera House in the fall of 2003. The opera house was in the process of being restored into a performing arts center after years without a show. (Shawn Patrick Ouellette/Staff Photographer)
Skaters at Happy Wheels in Westbrook on June 13, 1979. (Portland Press Herald photo courtesy Portland Public Library Special Collections and Archives)
The Port Authorities warm up before taking on the Rhode Island Riveters in a Maine Roller Derby flat track bout at the Portland Expo on April 12, 2008. (Jill Brady/Staff Photographer)
In September 2014, Happy Wheels in Portland celebrated its 40th anniversary with free skating. Shelves of rental roller skates line a wall at the rink. (John Ewing/Staff Photographer)

Aimsel Ponti is a music writer and content producer for the Portland Press Herald. She has been obsessed with – and inspired by – music since she listened to Monkees records borrowed from the town...

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