Portland Maine Walking Tours

16/12/2024

So much was removed--see the blocks between Congress and Oxford, Wilmot and Boyd--and so much built--notice the extent of Back Cove--since 1871.

You know by now how much we love maps. So, we were excited when one of our readers shared a link to some great historic maps. Today and tomorrow we will share these maps of Franklin Street and the Portland peninsula from an 1871 atlas of Cumberland County. We're going to let the maps speak for themselves.

Drop us a line. We'd love to hear what you notice and think.

ReBuild Franklin Street Now
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https://digitalmaine.com/atlas_cumberland_1871/

15/10/2024

Great Eastern.

SS Great Eastern was an iron sail-powered, paddle wheel and screw-propelled steamship designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel, and built by John Scott Russell & Co. at Millwall Iron Works on the River Thames, London. She was the largest ship ever built at the time of her 1858 launch, and had the capacity to carry 4,000 passengers from England to Australia without refuelling. Her length of 692 feet (211 m) was surpassed only in 1899 by the 705-foot (215 m) 17,274-gross-ton RMS Oceanic, her gross tonnage of 18,915 was only surpassed in 1901 by the 701-foot (214 m) 20,904-gross-ton RMS Celtic and her 4,000-passenger capacity was surpassed in 1913 by the 4,234-passenger SS Imperator. The ship's five funnels were rare and were later reduced to four. The vessel also had the largest set of paddle wheels.

09/09/2024

Send a message to learn more

08/08/2024

The Prince Project walking tour of Portland's Eastern Cemetery uncovers the City's Black history we were never taught.

08/07/2024

A few fun minutes in Maine, some here in Portland.

01/07/2024

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/sZ3xqFTtGasWSVzK/

26/06/2024

05/06/2024

Who's that guide?
Featured in Portland Old Port's Weekend Guide this week.

One of Yankee Magazine’s top five cemetery tours in New England! Walk Portland’s Old Burying Ground with a trained guide. Hallowed? Not officially. Historic? Absolutely. Haunted? You decide. Visit the cemetery’s unique field of underground tombs, the oldest gravemarker from 1717, t

03/06/2024

https://www.walktheworkingwaterfront.com/?utm_source=Eat+Drink+Lucky+-+Portland&utm_campaign=a3172caf68-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2024_05_31_07_12&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_1ffd1297c4-a3172caf68-%5BLIST_EMAIL_ID%5D&mc_cid=a3172caf68&mc_eid=5856e56443

Walk the Working Waterfront is a community event focused on supporting the ocean economy, the fishermen, businesses, entities, and people that make Portland, Maine an authentic seaside city.

22/05/2024

Portland Head Light and the wreck of the Annie C. Maquire on Christmas Eve in 1886, Cape Elizabeth, Maine.

17/05/2024

Working to ensure that South Portland is a place where all have equal opportunity to earn, learn, and

09/05/2024

05/05/2024

Frederick A. Tompson (1857-1919) was the architect for Evergreen Cemetery’s Wilde Memorial Chapel. He began his draftsmen’s training immediately after his 1876 graduation from Portland High School. He, like John Calvin Stevens three years earlier, joined the practice of Francis H. Fassett, the city’s most prominent architect. He remained with the firm until 1891 when he opened his own office. In addition to Wilde Chapel, he designed numerous public and private buildings during his 28 year career. A selective list of Tompson’s designs include:
Walker Memorial Library in Westbrook (1892)
Castle-in-the-Park in Deering Oaks (1894)
Armory on Milk Street (1895)
Emerson School on Munjoy Hill (1897-98)
Charles O. Haskell house at 52 Neal St. (1897)
Henry P. Cox house at 231 Western Promenade (1898)
West Mansion on the Western Promenade (1911)
Masonic Temple on Congress Street (1912)
Exposition Building on Park Avenue (1914).

His design skills were not restricted to architecture. He was also a talented landscape painter, a sculptor, and a photographer.