Maine Memory Network

Rum, Riot, and Reform - Politics and Enforcement

"… leader of the Gospel Temperance Mission, and Cumberland County Sheriff from 1900 to 1902. His photographic likeness applied to the front of this…"

Home: The Wadsworth-Longfellow House and Portland - The House, 1786-1960

"… of the Wadsworth-Longfellow House and Congress Street, as Back Street came to be called, from 1786 to around 1960."

Home: The Wadsworth-Longfellow House and Portland - The Privy

"The excavation of the Brown Street privy provided interesting insights about the mid 19th century neighborhood surrounding the Longfellow house."

Home: The Wadsworth-Longfellow House and Portland - Streetscape, 1790-1930

"It had a gable roof and possibly had a center chimney. The house was moved about 1826 to 39 Brown Street, around the corner."

Home: The Wadsworth-Longfellow House and Portland - The Wadsworth-Longfellow House and Portland

"… built his house in 1785, what is now Congress Street in Portland was on the rural outskirts of the community known as Falmouth."

Rum, Riot, and Reform - Taverns, People, and Scenes

"Plan of Ann (now Park) Street, Portland, ca. 1802Maine Historical Society Plan of Ann Street, Portland, ca."

Home: The Wadsworth-Longfellow House and Portland - Researching Your Home

"335 Congress Street, Portland, 1924City of Portland - Planning & Development We invite you to explore the history of your home and neighborhood, to…"

Rum, Riot, and Reform - Drinking: Elegance and Debauchery

"… at the corner of Portland's Federal and Temple streets, just below the First Parish Meetinghouse, was a stagecoach depot and popular watering place…"

Home: The Wadsworth-Longfellow House and Portland - The Longfellow Era: 1807-1901

"… Although he was born at a house on Fore Street, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow lived at the Wadsworth-Longfellow house for most of his childhood. He…"

Rum, Riot, and Reform - Business as Usual

"… of Fore, York, Danforth, and Pleasant streets) was a largely Irish-American neighborhood with more than its share of kitchen bars."

Rum, Riot, and Reform - A Call to Temperance

"Kitty Kentuck (ca. 1810-1866), was the street name for Portland's most celebrated liquor seller. X Portland Riot Broadsides, Portland, 1849…"

Rum, Riot, and Reform - Women Leaders and Temperance

"… Christian Temperance Union marching down Columbia Street in Bangor carrying signs such as "Bread is better than beer". X W.C.T.U."

Rum, Riot, and Reform - Quenching the Thirst

"… 1916 and established a barber shop on Middle Street. Wine was a staple in Italian families and at least one Portland priest viewed Prohibition as…"

Anshe Sfard, Portland's Early Chassidic Congregation

Chassidic Jews who came to Portland from Eastern Europe formed a congregation in the late 19th century and, in 1917, built a synagogue -- Anshe Sfard -- on Cumberland Avenue in Portland. By the early 1960s, the congregation was largely gone. The building was demolished in 1983.

A Riot of Words: Ballads, Posters, Proclamations and Broadsides

Imagine a day 150 years ago. Looking down a side street, you see the buildings are covered with posters and signs.

Portland Hotels

Since the establishment of the area's first licensed hotel in 1681, Portland has had a dramatic, grand and boisterous hotel tradition. The Portland hotel industry has in many ways reflected the growth and development of the city itself. As Portland grew with greater numbers of people moving through the city or calling it home, the hotel business expanded to fit the increasing demand.

MHS in Pictures: exploring our first 200 years

Two years after separating from Massachusetts, Maine leaders—many who were part of the push for statehood—also separated from Massachusetts Historical Society, creating the Maine Historical Society in 1822. The legislation signed on February 5, 1822 positioned MHS as the third-oldest state dedicated historical organization in the nation. The exhibition features MHS's five locations over the institution's two centuries, alongside images of leaders who have steered the organization through pivotal times.

Wired! How Electricity Came to Maine

As early as 1633, entrepreneurs along the Piscataqua River in southern Maine utilized the force of the river to power a sawmill, recognizing the potential of the area's natural power sources, but it was not until the 1890s that technology made widespread electricity a reality -- and even then, consumers had to be urged to use it.

From Sewers to Skylines: William S. Edwards's 1887 Photo Album

William S. Edwards (1830-1918) was a civil engineer who worked for the City of Portland from 1876-1906. Serving as First Assistant to Chief Engineer William A. Goodwin, then to Commissioner George N. Fernald, Edwards was a fixture in City Hall for 30 consecutive years, proving indispensable throughout the terms of 15 Mayors of Portland, including all six of those held by James Phineas Baxter. Edwards made significant contributions to Portland, was an outstanding mapmaker and planner, and his works continue to benefit historians.

Dressing Up, Standing Out, Fitting In

Adorning oneself to look one's "best" has varied over time, gender, economic class, and by event. Adornments suggest one's sense of identity and one's intent to stand out or fit in.

In Time and Eternity: Shakers in the Industrial Age

"In Time and Eternity: Maine Shakers in the Industrial Age 1872-1918" is a series of images that depict in detail the Shakers in Maine during a little explored time period of expansion and change.

Most Inconvenient Storm

A Portland newspaper wrote about an ice storm of January 28, 1886 saying, "The city of Portland was visited yesterday by the most inconvenient storm of the season."

Back to School

Public education has been a part of Maine since Euro-American settlement began to stabilize in the early eighteenth century. But not until the end of the nineteenth century was public education really compulsory in Maine.

Music in Maine - Bluegrass Music

"… Association of Maine X Allerton & Alton: Cumberland Ridge Runners, circa 1948 Courtesy of the Bluegrass Music Association of Maine X…"