PORTLAND, the largest city of Maine, U:S.A., a port of entry and the county seat of Cumberland county; on Casco bay, m. N.E. of Boston. It is on the Atlantic highway, and is served by the Boston and Maine, the Grand Trunk, and the Maine Central railways, and by steamship lines operating to Boston and New York, the Pacific ports and the principal ports of the United Kingdom. Pop. (1930) 70,810 (83% native white) ; estimated at 71,250 in 1935. Its area of 21.57 sq.m. includes a peninsula 3 m. long and averaging less than a mile in width (the original town) ; another peninsula to the east, occupied by the former city of Deering (annexed in 1899) ; some encircling terri tory on the mainland; and islands aggregating 2,585 acres. The Eastern promenade (159 f t. above sea-level) overlooks beautiful Casco bay, its 365 islands and seven lights, the shores of Fal mouth and Cape Elizabeth, to the open Atlantic beyond. From the Western promenade (altitude 173 f t.) the view embraces a broad sweep of country, to the White mountains of New Hampshire.
The public buildings are dignified and substantial. In Congress street (the main thoroughfare) is the Portland observatory (ris ing 222 f t. above tide-water) built in 1807 to sight incoming vessels. Many of the dwellings are in the simple and gracious architectural style of the 18th and early 19th century. Of special interest are the birthplace of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and his early home in Congress street (now a museum) built by his grandfather Gen. Peleg Wadsworth in 1785-86. The Eastern cemetery (set aside in 1668) contains the graves of many citizens of note. The oldest church building in the city (1825) is that of the First Parish church (Unitarian), established in 1792. In Williston church (Congregational) the Young People's Society of Christian Endeavor was founded in 1881 by the Rev. Francis E. Clark. Portland is the seat of the Maine General hospital, a U.S. Marine hospital, the Maine Institution for the Blind and has several special libraries and museums, besides the public library of 105,840 volumes.
The harbour has a water frontage of 8.5 miles. It is protected
by a breakwater, and defended by Forts Preble, Levett, Williams and McKinley. The traffic in 1935 amounted to 2,786,363 tons, valued at $56,535,075, of which $1,100,536 represented exports to foreign countries (largely lumber, scrap iron and canned vege tables) and $8,996,128 imports (chiefly wood pulp, fuel oil, coal and china clay). The domestic commerce ($46,438,411) consisted largely of textiles, coal, petroleum products, canned goods, paper and general merchandise. The output of the city's diversified manufacturing industries in 1935 was valued at $21,715,000. The fisheries are still important, but ship-building has declined (as elsewhere) since the World War. Bank clearings for 1935 aggre gated $90,994,065. The assessed valuation for 1936 was $81,710, 525 for local purposes and $89,898,099 for State purposes. Since 1923 it has operated under a council-manager form of government.
The Indian name for the peninsula which constitutes the heart of Portland was Machegonne. It was first settled by George Cleaves and Richard Tucker in 1633. The early settlement, known by various names, was destroyed by the Indians in 1676, and again by the French and Indians in 1690, after which it remained desolate until 1713. In 1719 the town of Falmouth was organized, including Falmouth Neck (now Portland). On Oct. 18, 1775, it was bombarded and burned by a British fleet in punishment for showing its sympathy for the patriotic cause. Falmouth Neck was incorporated in 1786 as the town of Portland. It was the capital of the State from 1820 to 1832, and on March 26, 1832, adopted a city charter. About 200 ac. in the centre of the city was destroyed in 1886 by a fire resulting from a Fourth of July cele bration. Portland was the birthplace of Henry Wadsworth Long fellow, Thomas Brackett Reed, Edward Preble, George Henry Preble, Mrs. Parton ("Fanny Fern"), Nathaniel Parker Willis, Seargent Smith Prentiss and Neal Dow, and was the home of William Pitt Fessenden, Theophilus Parsons and Simon Greenleaf.