Portland, Maine: Lobster Lovers Rejoice
Portland is Maine's largest city, the Cumberland County seat, New England's largest tonnage seaport and its second largest fishing port. Tourism is a major business in Portland, with the port handling over 206,000 international visitors each year, from cruise ship passengers to travelers on New England's ferry to Nova Scotia, Canada, the Scotia Prince. The harbor is one of the deepest, most protected ports on the Atlantic Ocean.
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| Lobster Caught in Casco Bay |
Greater Portland covers an area of 52.6 square miles (136.2 square kilometers) and almost 60% of the area is water mass; sailing tours and adventures, boat trips, guided lighthouse and ocean wildlife ventures abound. Many local area restaurants offer seafood of every description and world famous Maine lobster can be found in many forms, from Lobster Thermidor to traditional lobster bakes.
Portland was settled over 350 years ago and past history seeps out of the old Victorian buildings and flows down to the working waterfront of the Casco Bay area. Visitors can walk the cobblestone streets, smell the sea air and know that the city has many stories to tell and many characters to acknowledge. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, the great American poet, was born in Portland in 1807, as was suspense author Stephen King, in 1947.
ORIENTATION
Metropolitan Portland rests on a peninsula that extends out into island-studded Casco Bay. The city of over 64,000 permanent residents sits in the southern part of Maine, on the east coast, alongside the Atlantic Ocean. Portland lies approximately 107 miles north of Boston, Massachusetts, and 56 miles south of Maine's capital city of Augusta.
HISTORY
Native Americans originally called the Maine peninsula Machigonne, meaning Great Neck. When English settlers arrived in 1632 to establish a trading and fishing settlement, the name was changed to Casco. In 1658, citizens again changed the name, this time to Falmouth.
In the late 1600s, the city of Falmouth was completely destroyed by the Wampanoag tribe and their allies during a campaign called King Philip's War; King Philip being the English name given to the chief of the Wampanoags. The settlement was rebuilt, but continued conflict between settlers and natives caused the city to be destroyed a second time.
If superstition correctly predicts that bad things happen in threes, many would be superstitious over the city's history. During the American Revolution in 1775, five British Royal Navy warships bombarded Falmouth for eight long hours. Troops then stormed the city and set fire to everything that remained. Seventy-five percent of the city was destroyed and the harbor was useless as a seaport for the rest of the war. For the third time citizens rebuilt the city, and in 1786, part of Falmouth divided and became Portland.
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| Exchange
Street in Old Port Historic District |
Portland has been likened to a mythological phoenix because of the city's ability to rise from the ashes and begin life again. This comparison was affirmed after the July 4, 1866, celebration when fire destroyed a total of 2,000 buildings, including homes, commercial buildings and churches. Over 10,000 of the 13,000 residents were left homeless in the aftermath of the blaze and the entire trade and financial center of Portland was wiped out. This time, residents used brick to rebuild the city. Victorian-style architecture was introduced, which Portland still preserves today.
Portland's history would not be complete without some mention of its political past. Maine's temperance movement originated in Portland, where the world's first Total Abstinence Society was founded in 1815. Over the next few decades, the society achieved enough political clout that by 1851, the entire state of Maine declared a total ban on the manufacture and sale of liquor. The ban, or so-called Maine Law, continued until the 1934 repeal of National Prohibition.
The early 1960s brought an awareness of the need for preservation of Portland's structures. The Victoria Mansion, the Tate House and the Wadsworth-Longfellow House are examples of the successful, ongoing restoration and preservation efforts. Portland has become a thriving retail district, a modern business center and a haven for artists, but still maintains an intimate relationship with its history and the sea.
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| Climate
data from the National Weather Service Forecast Office |
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CLIMATE
Portland resides in one of Maine's climatological regions known as the coastal division. This division runs approximately twenty miles inland, down the entire length of the coast.
The influence of the Atlantic Ocean provides the coastal area with lower summer and higher winter temperatures. The average summer temperature is 70° F (22° C) with low humidity, while the average winter temperature remains slightly above the freezing mark.
Ground fog, thunderstorms and hurricanes are realities of Portland's weather, but with 80 to 120 sunshine days per year and less than 20 snow days annually, visitors will find Portland a four-season vacation destination. Snowshoeing, skiing, snowboarding and snowmobiling are within 45 minutes west and deep-sea fishing, sailing, sunbathing and swimming are minutes to the east.
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| Casco Bay Lines Ferry at Sunset |
TRANSPORTATION
Getting to and from Portland is easy. Portland International Jetport is ten minutes from the city's downtown and is serviced by ten commercial carriers. Rental cars are available at the jetport to take visitors to one of the many hotels or bed and breakfast establishments. Visitors can reach Portland by car, motor home, bicycle or motorcycle, following interstate highway 295 south from Augusta or I-95 north from Boston. Ferry services, cruise ships and private vessels transport people from local and international destinations. Once in Portland, the city Metro moves passengers around the city and into the outlying areas, while ferries and tour boats carry people to the surrounding islands.
PORTLAND FEATURED ATTRACTIONS
Portland Narrow Gauge Railroad & Museum
Touring the waterfront is a special experience when visitors ride the
Portland
Narrow Gauge Railroad. These unique trains use rails that are
only two feet apart, and are pulled by steam and diesel locomotives that
were originally built to access Maine's interior mountain ranges and swamps.
The Portland Narrow Gauge Railroad & Museum displays coaches, cabooses,
tank cars, flat cars, locomotives, miniatures, photographs and more.
In addition to the daily tours, the railroad also hosts special events like Santa Fest and the Guest Engineer Program. Santa Fest is an annual event with lights and music, where families can visit Santa in a 1904, Victorian-decorated railcar. The Guest Engineer Program is a full-day opportunity for registrants to learn how to be an engineer on an authentic steam locomotive. Participants are guaranteed a minimum of one hour at the throttle during the session.
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| Overlooking Old Port Historic District from the Pier |
Old Port Historic District
Both history and contemporary life coexist in the Old
Port Historic District. Portland harbor is a working waterfront
where cruise ships, ferries, cargo freighters, commercial ships and recreational
conveyances labor side by side. Former brick warehouses in the waterfront
district now contain fashionable boutiques,
art
galleries,
restaurants and coffee houses. Whether shopping for jewelry,
listening to music,
strolling through the museums or eating toasted lobster rolls, visitors
to the Old Port Historic District are reminded of Portland's age-old connection
with the sea.
Portland Observatory
An octagonal, wooden tower sits at the top of Munjoy Hill. The Portland
Observatory looks like a lighthouse, but it is actually the last
remaining maritime signal tower in America. In 1807, Lemeul Moody, a sea
captain turned entrepreneur, ordered construction of the 86-foot-high
tower to observe ships coming into the harbor. Using his powerful telescope,
Moody identified incoming vessels and then used coded flags to signal
the town merchants and ship owners. This communication system allowed
merchants to reserve a berth at the dock and also hire a crew to unload
or load cargo as soon as the ship landed.
The tower no longer functions as a signal tower, but through the efforts of hundreds of donors and supporters, the Portland Observatory has been restored. Visitors can now take the 103-step climb to the top of the structure overlooking Portland and Casco Bay, browse through the first floor exhibits and buy souvenirs in the gift shop.
OUTSIDE PORTLAND
Many opportunities for adventure, recreation, education and relaxation exist outside Portland too. Camping at Bradbury Mountain State Park in Yarmouth, touring to one of the picturesque islands in Casco Bay, white water rafting down Kennebec River, whatever the activity, Greater Portland area awaits your visit.
