Timeline of Portland, Maine facts for kids

The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Portland, Maine, USA.

Prior to 19th century

• 1633 - Casco settled.
• 1658 - Settlement renamed "Falmouth."
• 1659 - George Munjoy settled what became Munjoy Hill
• 1668 - Eastern Cemetery established.
• 1676 - Village sacked by the Wampanoag during King Philip's War.
• 1690 - Battle of Fort Loyal.
• 1718 - Town of Falmouth established.
• 1740 - First Parish Church built.
• 1763 - Falmouth Library Society organized.
• 1764 - Population: about 2,000.

Wadsworth-Longfellow House Front

• 1775
  • Thompson's War
  • Town burned by British.
• 1768 - Portland Fire Department formed, March 29.
• 1785 - Falmouth Gazette newspaper begins publication.
• 1785/6 - Wadsworth-Longfellow House built.
• 1786 - Falmouth renamed "Portland."
• 1790
  • Gazette of Maine newspaper begins publication.
  • Population: 2,240.
  • Lighthouse built.
• 1796 - Portland Marine Society incorporated.

19th century

• 1800 - Population: 3,704.
• 1803 - Eastern Argus newspaper begins publication.
• 1805 - Portland Benevolent Society incorporated.
• 1806 - Gorham Academy built.
• 1807
  • Portland Observatory built.
  • Birth of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.
• 1819 - State constitutional convention held.
• 1820
  • Portland becomes capital of State of Maine.
  • Maine Council of Royal Masters instituted.
  • Population: 8,581.
• 1821
  • High School established.
  • Maine Mineralogical Society established.
  • Maine Encampment of Knight Templars established.
• 1822 - Maine Historical Society founded.
• 1825 - First Parish Church built.
• 1826 - Portland Athenaeum founded.
• 1827 - John Neal opened the first public gymnasium in the US founded by an American in town hall in Market Square
• 1828
  • Maine's first literary periodical, The Yankee, founded.
  • Abyssinian Meeting House established.
  • Mariner's Church built.
• 1829
  • Theatre built on Union Street.
  • Western Cemetery established.
• 1830 - Population - 12,598.
• 1831 - Westbrook Seminary chartered.
• 1832
  • State capital moves from Portland to Augusta.
  • City of Portland chartered.
  • Cumberland and Oxford Canal opened bringing interior trade to Portland harbor from Long Lake
• 1836 - Western Promenade laid out.
• 1839 - B. Thurston & Co. publishers established.
• 1843
  • Railway service began between Boston and Portland.
  • Portland Society of Natural History organized.
• 1844 - Portland Steam Packet Company organized.
• 1845 - The Pleasure Boat newspaper begins publication.
• 1846 - Portland Company established to build railway locomotives.
• 1849 - Portland Gas Light Co. incorporated.
• 1850
  • Curtis' chewing gum manufactory in business.
  • Population: 20,815.
• 1851 - Kennebec and Portland Rail Road begins operating.
• 1853
  • Grand Trunk Railway to Montreal begins operating.
  • Portland Board of Trade established.
  • Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland established.
• 1855
  • Portland Rum Riot.
  • Evergreen Cemetery established.
  • United States Marine Hospital established.
• 1856 - Chestnut Street Methodist Church built.
• 1859 - Forest City Cemetery established.
• 1862
  • Portland Daily Press newspaper begins publication.
  • Maine Central Railroad Company begins operations.
• 1863
  • Battle of Portland Harbor.
  • Portland street car service began.
  • Galt wharf grain elevator completed for export of Canadian wheat.

"Bird's Eye View of the City of Portland," 1876

• 1866 - Fire.
• 1867
  • Portland Institute and Public Library founded.
  • First Baptist Church built.
  • Water company established to supply the city from Sebago Lake.
• 1868 - U.S. Customhouse and St. Paul's Church and Rectory built.
• 1869 - Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception construction completed.
• 1870 - Cumberland and Oxford Canal abandoned when Portland and Ogdensburg Railroad reached Sebago Lake.
• 1875 - Southworth Press established.
• 1881 - Young People's Society of Christian Endeavour founded by Francis Edward Clark.
• 1882
  • Portland Society of Art founded.
  • Evening Express newspaper begins publication.
• 1884 - Maine Genealogical Society organized.
• 1886 - Portland centennial.
• 1888 - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Monument unveiled at Longfellow Square in West End.
• 1890 - Population: 36,425.
• 1891 - Portland Soldiers and Sailors Monument dedicated on Monument Square.
• 1897
  • Jefferson Theatre opens.
  • Maine Music Festival begins.
  • St. Lawrence Church and Williston-West Church built.
• 1898 - Waynflete School established.
• 1899
  • Deering becomes part of Portland.
  • Portland Camera Club formed.
• 1900 - Population: 50,145.

20th century

• 1901 - New England Elevator Company built the largest grain elevator on the Atlantic coast.
• 1906 - Portland Company ceased building railway locomotives.
• 1908 - Portland Society of Arts and Crafts organized.
• 1909 - City Hall re-built.
• 1910
  • Memorial statue of Thomas Brackett Reed unveiled.
  • Population: 58,571.
• 1911
  • L. D. M. Sweat Memorial Art Museum dedicated.
  • Portland Terminal Company formed.
• 1912
  • Kotzschmar Memorial Organ installed in City Hall's Merrill Auditorium.
  • Eastern Promenade laid out according to design by Olmsted Brothers.
• 1913
  • State of Maine Express began direct Pullman railway service from major US cities to Portland.
  • Historical pageant takes place on Eastern Promenade.
• 1914
  • Portland–Lewiston Interurban service began between Portland and Lewiston.
  • Portland Exposition Building and Green Memorial A.M.E. Zion Church built.
• 1916 - Million Dollar Bridge opens.
• 1918 - Queen's Hospital for women opens.
• 1919 - Portland designated eastern end of the Theodore Roosevelt International Highway.
• 1921 - Etz Chaim Synagogue built.
• 1923
  • Portland Symphony Orchestra and Children's Theatre of Portland established.
  • Canadian National Railway began diverting export traffic from Portland to Canadian Maritime ports.
• 1924
  • Maine State Pier and Chapman Building constructed.
  • Longfellow Garden Club organized.
• 1926 - U.S. Route 1 linked Portland to the United States highway system.
• 1928 - James E. Barlow hired as second City Manager
• 1929 - State Theatre opens.
• 1930 - The Gull began international Pullman train service through Portland from the Maritimes.
• 1933
  • Portland-Westbrook Municipal Airport established.
  • End of interurban service from Portland to surrounding communities.
• 1934 - Flying Yankee began streamliner service to Portland.
• 1940 - East Wind began summer passenger train service to Portland for vacationers from major eastern cities.
• 1941
  • Portland–Montreal Pipe Line completed.
  • Portland became United States Navy destroyer base Sail during the Battle of the Atlantic.
  • Victoria Mansion museum opens.
  • Portland street car system dismantled.
• 1942 - Battery Steele built.
• 1944 - A-26 Invader crash near Portland airport was Maine's worst aircraft accident.
• 1946 - Baxter Woods municipal forest established.
• 1947 - Maine Turnpike connected Portland to what would become the Interstate Highway System.
• 1950 - Population: 77,634.
• 1953 - WCSH begins broadcasting.
• 1954 - WMTW begins broadcasting.
• 1960 - Tukey's Bridge built.
• 1961 - Demolition of Union Station ended daily passenger train service to Portland.
• 1964 - Greater Portland Landmarks preservation group formed.
• 1965 - Kennedy Park housing built.
• 1967 - Summer weekend passenger train service to Portland ended.
• 1970 - University of Southern Maine Portland campus established.
• 1973
  • Old Port Festival begins.
  • WMPG begins broadcasting.
  • Salt Institute for Documentary Studies founded.
• 1974 - The Hollow Reed restaurant in the Old Port is founded.
• 1976 - Children's Museum of Maine founded.
• 1977 - Cumberland County Civic Center built.
• 1978 - Portland Stage Company active.
• 1984
  • Sister city relationship established with Shinagawa, Tokyo, Japan.
  • Portland Ice Arena opens.
• 1985 - Portland Monthly magazine begins publication.
• 1993
  • Portland Pirates ice hockey team formed.
  • Maine Narrow Gauge Railroad Museum opens.
• 1994
  • Portland Chamber Music Festival begins.
  • PORTopera founded.
  • Hadlock Field opens.
• 1997
  • Casco Bay Bridge opens.
  • City website online (approximate date).

21st century

• 2001 - Downeaster restores passenger train service to Portland.
• 2003 - Sister city relationship established with Mytilene, Greece.
• 2006 - Maine Roller Derby and Portland Society of Architects founded
• 2008 - Maine Mead Works in business.
• 2009
  • Port City Music Hall opens.
  • Congress Street designated an historic district.
• 2010
  • State Theatre reopens.
  • Population: 66,194 city; 514,098 metro.