1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Portland (Maine)

PORTLAND, the largest city of Maine, U.S.A., the county seat of Cumberland county, and a port of entry, on Casco Bay, about 115 m. by rail N.N.E. of Boston. Pop. (1890), 36,425; (1900), 50,145, of whom 34,918 were born in Maine, 3125 in the other New England states, 4476 in Canada, and 3273 in Ireland, and 291 were negroes; (1910 census) 58,571. Portland is served by the Maine Central, the Boston & Maine, and the Grand Trunk railways; by steamboat lines to New York, Boston, Bar Harbor, Saint John, N.B., and other coast ports, and, during the winter season, by the Allan and Dominion transatlantic lines. It is connected by ferry with South Portland.

The hilly peninsula, to which Portland was confined until the annexation of the town of Deering in 1899, is nearly 3 m. in length by about ¾ m. in average width; at its east end is Munjoy Hill, 160 ft. above the sea, and its west end Bramhall Hill, 15 ft. higher. Portland's total land area is about 21½ sq. m. The scenery in and about the city is noted for its picturesqueness, and this, with its delightful summer climate and historic interest, attracts a large number of visitors during the summer season. Munjoy Hill commands a fine view of Casco Bay, which is overlooked by other wooded heights. There is excellent yachting in the bay, which contains many beautiful islands, such as Peaks and Cushing's islands. Bramhall Hill commands an extensive view west and north-west of the bay, the mainland, and the White Mountains some 80 m. distant.

The first permanent settlement on the peninsula was established by George Cleeve and Richard Tucker at the foot of Munjoy Hill in 1633 immediately after they had been ejected from land which they had claimed at the mouth of the Spurwink. Soon the hill at the east end became the property of George Munjoy and that at the west end the property of George Bramhall. The Indian name of the peninsula was Machegonne, and the new settlement was during the next few years known by various names, such as Casco, Casco Neck, Cleeve's Neck, and Munjoy's Neck. In 1658 Massachusetts extended its jurisdiction over this part of Maine. The peninsula, with considerable neighbouring territory and Cape Elizabeth, was organized as a town in 1718 and was named Falmouth. The town suffered so severely from the Indians in 1676 that it was deserted until 1678. It was attacked in 1689, and in 1690 it was utterly destroyed by the French and Indians, and remained desolate until after the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713. When the port of Boston was closed by Great Britain in 1774 the bell of the old First Parish Church (Unitarian) of Portland (built 1740; the present building dates from 1825) was muffled and rung from morning till night, and in other ways the town showed its sympathy for the patriot cause. As a punishment, on the 18th of October 1775, the town was bombarded and burned by a British fleet. The peninsula portion of Falmouth was incorporated as a distinct town in 1786 and was named Portland. Portland was the capital of the state from 1820 to 1832 and in the latter year was chartered as a city. In 1886 a large central portion of the city, about 200 acres, was destroyed by a fire resulting from a Fourth of July celebration. Portland was the birthplace of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Thomas Brackett Reed, Edward Preble and his nephew George Henry Preble, Mrs Parton (“Fanny Fern”), Nathaniel Parker Willis, Seargent Smith Prentiss and Neal Dow, and it was the home of William Pitt Fessenden, Theophilus Parsons and Simon Greenleaf.