On Saturday, March 15, South Portland Historical Society will hold a lecture about South Portland’s World War II shipyards at the Community Center at 2 p.m. From 1941 to 1945, South Portland produced 244 Liberty ships and 30 Ocean ships at two shipyards on its eastern waterfront. The shipyards covered a massive area that today […]
local history
Posted inTimes Record
The devastating Brunswick Tontine Hotel fire of 1904
On Tuesday morning, Jan. 5, 1904, just after 3 a.m., Brunswick Police Officer J.E. Alexander fired shots into the air over downtown. It was “eight degrees below zero” and Brunswick’s grandest hotel was on fire. Just before 3 a.m., Hotel Night Clerk Alonzo Colby started a fire in “the kitchen range” to help thaw frozen […]
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Posted inSouth Portland Sentry
A Window on the Past: Sagadahoc Farms of South Portland and Scarborough
Sagadahoc Farms was located on a piece of land that started southeast of Main Street in South Portland, roughly to the rear of the Fred and Mabel Lund (Lund’s Dairy) and Charles R. Dean (Cloverdale Dairy) properties on Main Street, and ran south over the town line into Scarborough to the Pleasant Hill Road (known […]
Posted inLakes Region Weekly
It Happened in Windham: Almost 200 years ago: The South Windham Village memories of Rev. George Bodge
While doing some research for a book that the Windham Historical Society is putting together about our town’s history, I came across an article by the Rev. George Bodge that was written in 1906 and appeared in the “Suburban News” in January 1995. Titled “The Village in 1847,” it is a very interesting look into […]
Posted inPortland Forecaster, The Forecaster
Amateur historian marks decade of uncovering the histories of Portland homes
Cape Elizabeth resident Darren McLellan has researched the history of over 200 buildings on his blog, “Portland House Stories.”
Posted inSouth Portland Sentry
A Window on the Past: Historical society lecture on Wednesday, ‘Snow Squall: South Portland’s Clipper’
On Wednesday, Feb. 26, the South Portland Historical Society will offer a presentation on the South Portland-built clipper ship Snow Squall. The lecture will be held in the Casco Bay Room of the South Portland Community Center and will begin at 6:30 p.m. Using the Snow Squall as his departure point, the society’s I will […]
Posted inScarborough Leader
Scarborough’s first public high school topic of historical society talk
Initially, public education in Scarborough consisted of a number of one-room schoolhouses that only went through Grade 8. To go to high school, parents had to pay tuition to send their children to a private school. Dr. Steve Spaulding will give a talk about “Scarborough’s First High School” at 2 p.m., Sunday, March 2, at […]
Posted inTimes Record
Cushing wooden art preserve gains national historic recognition
Langlais Art Preserve recently caught the attention of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, which announced the addition of 19 new affiliate sites to its prestigious Historic Artists’ Homes and Studios network — the most significant expansion since the program’s founding in 2000.
Posted inSouth Portland Sentry
A Window on the Past: Charles R. Dean and the Cloverdale Dairy
We continue our exploration down Main Street this week. Just beyond the old Lund’s Dairy on that southeast side of the street was Charles R. Dean at 700 Main St. His property was in the vicinity of where you’d find the Best Western Merry Manor Inn and the now-vacant, former Merry Manor/Governor’s restaurant today. Charles […]
Posted inTimes Record
When Brunswick had its own amusement park
At the start of the 20th century, one Brunswick location grew to become an economic boon to our area and a destination for thousands of Mainers and tourists alike. Though it lasted just short of a decade, this behemoth-sized amusement park became legendary in our local history. On Sunday, July 17, 1898, electric trolleys with […]