maine history Archives - The Portland Press Herald

100 years ago, KKK stunned Lewiston with gunpowder and a huge, flaming cross

by Steve Collins August 11, 2024August 11, 2024

The Aug. 10, 1924, scene atop Mount David highlighted the growing power of the racist, anti-immigrant, anti-Catholic group in Maine.

Food, Maine Gardener

The Longfellow Garden Club of Portland celebrates 100 years

by Tom Atwell August 4, 2024July 29, 2024

Appalled at the sorry state of the garden, a Portland socialite organized the club in 1924. It has maintained the garden at the historic Wadsworth-Longfellow House ever since.

South Portland Sentry

A Window on the Past: The Higgins family farmers of Highland Avenue

by Kathryn Onos DiPhilippo July 25, 2024July 22, 2024

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 […]

South Portland Sentry

A Window on the Past: Cushman’s Bakery and the Nathan A. Cushman family

by Kathryn Onos DiPhilippo July 11, 2024July 9, 2024

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 […]

Lewiston-Auburn

July 7, 1949: The deadliest day for public safety officers in Auburn and Lewiston

by Steve Collins July 7, 2024July 6, 2024

Seventy-five years ago Sunday, 2 fire trucks crashed into each other in Auburn, killing 2 firefighters and a police officer. The cause remains somewhat unclear.

Food, Vegan Kitchen

Father Sebastian Rale may have been Maine’s first vegetarian

by Avery Yale Kamila June 23, 2024June 20, 2024

The controversial 18th-century Jesuit priest could well have been an ascetic, part of a Christian movement that abstained from meat, which its adherents associated with carnality, gluttony and lechery.

Arts & Entertainment, Books, Review

Plucky 18th-century midwife Martha Ballard is entangled in a brutal rape case

by Genanne Walsh March 31, 2024March 26, 2024

In ‘Frozen River,’ Ariel Lawhon spins a propulsive historical thriller from a few basic real-life facts. ‘It’s a fast read, but some of the ideas that drive it are troubling.

Times Record

Pejepscot History Center to host presentation on Malaga Island with Maine archivist

by The Times Record February 15, 2024February 15, 2024

Pejepscot History Center is hosting a presentation into the history of nearby Malaga Island and the role PHC staff played two decades ago in highlighting the injustices endured by its inhabitants. The event is from 6-7:30 p.m. on Feb. 29 at NOMAD, 14 Maine St., Brunswick. A half-hour reception with cash bar precedes the presentation, […]