Maine Memory Network

Providing health services and medical care for the urban working class and the indigent was increasingly viewed by American's political, educational, and business elite as a practical necessity and moral imperative. Major cities built general hospitals during the 19th century.

In 1868 the Maine legislature unanimously passed an "Act of Incorporation for a State General Hospital," and on August 29, 1871, the corner stone of the East Pavilion was laid with a copper box containing items to mark the occasion. The conditional land grant, effective only when construction funds were raised, came from the state legislature deeding a lot with buildings on Bramhall Hill. The grant was supplemented by the City of Portland with an additional two parcels.