Back in the 1930s, a ship was pulled out of the water for repairs at the Cumberland Shipbuilding yard at the end of Broadway in South Portland. The shipyard, initially constructed during WWI, would later be replaced by the Todd-Bath Iron Shipbuilding yard during WWII, making that site relevant to world history in both the […]
local history
Posted inTimes Record
Harpswell’s spread-out reading landscape takes a turn
Thanks to the Harpswell Neck Library Association, locals can now borrow books for free — sparking a new town tradition and an ever-evolving inventory.
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Posted inSouth Portland Sentry
A Window on the Past: The Higgins family farmers of Highland Avenue
In September of 2019, we published an article about the Buck Bros. and Taylor farm at 501 Highland Ave. (the street has been renumbered – that address used to be known as 451 Highland Ave.; the farmhouse is still there and the former farm/greenhouse property is now home to the Church of the Nazarene). In […]
Posted inLakes Region Weekly
It Happened in Windham: How children and families passed the time in past times
Buster Gilman was 5 years old in 1938. His mother, Alice, was a hardworking housewife and his father, Lloyd “Gillie” Gilman, worked at Windham Town Hall. He had older siblings from his parents’ previous marriages, but they were much older than he, in their teens and early 20s. He had no video games or television […]
Posted inSouth Portland Sentry
A Window on the Past: Ebenezer Hutchinson and the ‘little red schoolhouse’ on Highland Avenue
One of our catalogers at South Portland Historical Society recently discovered an interesting piece of history tucked away in an old, turn-of-the-century scrapbook: a newspaper clipping containing an unnamed person’s recollection of the District 3 “little red schoolhouse” on Highland Avenue. We’ve been looking for information on this school for many years. We had previously […]
Posted inSouth Portland Sentry
A Window on the Past: Cushman’s Bakery and the Nathan A. Cushman family
There are still many older residents in South Portland who have fond memories of Cushman’s Bakery with their great bread, rolls, doughnuts, pies and more. For younger generations, however, they may have never heard of this once-giant bakery in New England. I recently read an interesting biography, “Nathan A. Cushman; a rugged individualist,” and it […]
Posted inSouth Portland Sentry
A Window on the Past: From Skunk Hill to Thornton Heights
The area in South Portland that is now known as Thornton Heights was known in the 1800s as Skunk Hill or Skunk’s Hill. While we’ve never seen any written documentation about how Skunk Hill changed its name, it would appear that the Portland Country Club may have been the instigator. The changeover in the name […]
Posted inSouth Portland Sentry
A Window on the Past: Summer in Maine Auction, annual Classic Car Show benefit South Portland Historical Society
The Summer in Maine Auction, featuring some of the best that Maine has to offer, is now open for bidding at the South Portland Historical Society’s museum at Bug Light Park. Bids will be accepted every day until the auction closes on the Fourth of July. We hope you’ll come down and check out the […]
Posted inKennebunk Post
Brick Store Museum hits a home run with historical summer fun
The Kennebunk museum’s summer calendar kicks off with a vintage baseball game in July.
Posted inSouth Portland Sentry
A Window on the Past: The Second Advent Chapel at Cash Corner
As early as 1883 and as late as the 1930s, the Advent Chapel was in use at Cash Corner, located at 368-370 Main St., near the corner of Skillings Street. The fire station now covers the site. Back in 2005, I talked with resident Waverly Hammond who remembered peeking through the windows of the chapel […]