United Statesportland-maine
Discover routes, attractions, and guides in Portland Maine.
5 routes
Portland Maine R5: Great Fire July 4 1866 (firecracker boatshop 4pm 1500 buildings 10,000 homeless 2 dead, rebuilt by 1870 most architecturally unified Victorian streetscape US, Italianate brick bracketed cornices, Maine granite Vinalhaven Deer Isle Crotch Island most important US stone industry 1820-1900), Civil War (70,000 Maine men 70% male population, 20th Maine Gettysburg July 2 1863, Chamberlain born 1828 Brewer bayonet charge Little Round Top saved Union left Medal of Honor awarded June 11 1900 37 years later, 54th Massachusetts Fort Wagner July 18 1863 Glory 1989 Denzel Washington Oscar), Bowdoin (1794 Brunswick 40km, Hawthorne Scarlet Letter 1850, Longfellow, Franklin Pierce 14th President Kansas-Nebraska Act 1854, Chamberlain, Peary North Pole, Peary-MacMillan Arctic Museum, University of Maine 1865 Orono 11,000), Freeport L.L. Bean (1912 Leon Bean Maine Hunting Shoe 100 pairs refunded, 24hrs 365 days since 1912, 3M visitors/year, 200 outlet stores, Desert of Maine overfarmed glacial silt 50 acres), Literature (Thoreau Maine Woods 1864 Katahdin 1846, E.B. White Charlotte's Web North Brooklin farm 1938-1985, Robert McCloskey born 1914 died Deer Isle 2003 Make Way Ducklings 1941 Caldecott 1942 Blueberries Sal), Economy (Aroostook 18-20% poverty 30% population loss since 1960, logging Penobscot River, paper mills Millinocket East Millinocket Lincoln Rumford closed 2008-2014 5000 jobs, cannabis 2016 2020 retail USD 150M 800 retailers, remote work COVID top 10 inflows).
Portland Maine R5: Great Fire July 4 1866 (1500 buildings 10,000 homeless, rebuilt 1870 most unified Victorian streetscape, Italianate brick, Maine granite most important US stone 1820-1900), Civil War (70,000 men, 20th Maine Gettysburg July 2 1863, Chamberlain bayonet charge Little Round Top Medal of Honor 37 years later, 54th Massachusetts Fort Wagner 1863 Glory 1989 Denzel Oscar), Bowdoin (1794 40km, Hawthorne Scarlet Letter, Pierce 14th Kansas-Nebraska 1854, Chamberlain Peary, Peary-MacMillan Arctic Museum, UMaine 1865 11,000), Freeport L.L. Bean (1912 Maine Hunting Shoe 100 refunded, 24hrs 365 days, 3M visitors 200 outlets, Desert of Maine glacial silt 50 acres), literature (Thoreau Maine Woods 1864, E.B. White Charlotte's Web North Brooklin, McCloskey Deer Isle 2003 Make Way Ducklings Caldecott 1942), economy (Aroostook 18-20% poverty 30% loss, logging Penobscot, paper mills 2008-2014 5000 jobs, cannabis 2020 USD 150M, remote work COVID top 10).
Portland Maine: Old Port, lighthouses, lobster industry, food scene, Acadia, and practical guide
Portland Maine overview: Old Port cobblestone 19th century brick warehouses most James Beard nominees per capita US, Food and Wine Restaurant City 2018, Sam Hayward James Beard 2004 Fore Street Rob Evans 2009 Hugo's; Portland Head Light 1791 George Washington first federal lighthouse ordered, Maine 65 lighthouses more than any state except Michigan, 5500km coastline more than California; Longfellow born Portland 1807 Wadsworth-Longfellow House 1785 first Portland brick building; Maine lobster 75-80% US supply 110-130M pounds USD 500-700M/year, Portland Fish Exchange largest US fresh fish auction; Fore Street 1996 Hayward wood hearth, Duckfat Belgian fries duck fat, Allagash Brewing 1994 Rob Tod Belgian pioneer Allagash White best-selling US; Acadia 4M visitors/year Rockefeller 57km carriage roads 1913-1940, Cadillac Mountain 466m first continental sunrise October-March, Kennebunkport Bush Walker's Point, Bowdoin 1794 Chamberlain Longfellow, Farnsworth Wyeth collection; PWM airport 2M Amtrak Downeaster Boston 2.5hrs Casco Bay ferry Peaks Island 15min.
Portland Maine R2-R5: Arts District (Portland Museum of Art 1882 18,000 works Winslow Homer collection, I.M. Pei wing 1983, First Friday Art Walk 10,000 monthly, Portland Observatory 1807 only remaining US maritime signal tower, State Theatre 1929 Art Deco 1600 seats); Literary (Harriet Beecher Stowe Uncle Tom's Cabin 1851-1852 best-selling 19th century US after Bible 300,000 copies year one Lincoln so you started this great war, Stephen King born Portland 1947 Bangor bat-gate house, Sarah Orne Jewett Country Pointed Firs 1896, E.B. White Charlotte's Web Maine saltwater farm); Casco Bay Islands (Peaks Island 15min 1000 residents Battery Steele WWII 1942 graffiti murals, Cliff Island 60 residents 90min no stores roads, Eagle Island Peary North Pole April 6 1909 summer home 1904, Maine Island Trail 375 miles 7000 kayakers); Wilderness (90% forested 7M hectares, moose 75,000-80,000 largest contiguous US, Baxter 83,371ha Governor Baxter 37 donations 1931-1962, Katahdin 1606m AT northern terminus 3540km 1000-1500 thru-hikers/year, Moosehead Lake 483km2 largest NE); Architecture (Great Fire July 4 1866 1500 buildings 10,000 homeless most destructive US before Chicago 1871, rebuilt 1867-1875 most coherent Victorian streetscape US, Victoria Mansion 1858 finest Italian Villa US, City Hall Carrere Hastings 1909); Seasonal (summer book 2-4 weeks advance, Lobster Festival July, Sunday River 135 trails, Sugarloaf best natural snow).
Portland Maine R2-R5: arts (PMA 1882 18,000 works Homer collection, I.M. Pei 1983, First Friday 10,000 monthly, Observatory 1807 only US maritime signal tower, State Theatre 1929), literary (Stowe Uncle Tom's Cabin 1851 best-selling 19th C Bible, Lincoln so you started this war, King born Portland 1947 Bangor, Jewett Country Pointed Firs 1896, E.B. White Charlotte's Web Maine), Casco Bay (Peaks Island 15min 1000 Battery Steele 1942 graffiti, Cliff Island 60 residents 90min no stores, Eagle Island Peary April 6 1909 North Pole, Maine Island Trail 375 miles 7000 kayakers), wilderness (90% forested 7M ha, moose 75-80,000 largest contiguous US, Baxter 83,371ha 37 donations 1931-1962, Katahdin AT terminus 3540km 1000-1500 thru-hikers, Moosehead 483km2 largest NE), architecture (Great Fire July 4 1866 1500 buildings most destructive US before Chicago, Victoria Mansion 1858 finest Italian Villa US, City Hall Carrere Hastings 1909), seasonal (summer book 2-4 weeks, Lobster Festival July, Sunday River 135 trails, Sugarloaf natural snow).
Portland Maine R4: Winslow Homer (born 1836 moved Prouts Neck 1883, Northeaster 1895 Blue Boat 1892 Eight Bells 1886, studio National Historic Landmark opened 2012, Farnsworth Museum Rockland finest NE regional art NC Wyeth died railroad crossing 1945, Andrew Wyeth Christina's World 1948 Olson House Cushing, Jamie Wyeth 1946 dynastic family), outdoors (sea kayaking premier eastern US, Maine Island Trail 600km 200 island campsites, L.L. Bean Freeport 1912 open 24hrs 365 days since 1951, Mount Battie 475m Camden Hills, Sugarloaf 1291m above treeline), Congress Street (Maine Historical Society 1822 oldest institution 2M items, Monument Square Civil War memorial Simmons 1891, Portland Press Herald 1862, West End Victorian Federal Greek Revival Italianate Queen Anne), Rangeley Lakes (180km north, 650km2 lake chain, Victorian resort 1880s Rangeley Lake House 500 guests, brook trout 6-8kg depleted, Wilhelm Reich Museum 1897-1957 orgone FDA censored destroyed publications 1954-1956 most significant scientific censorship US), Lobster roll (cold Mayo Maine-style vs warm drawn butter CT-style, Reds Eats Wiscasset 41 Water Street 45-90min lines full pound no mayo, Lukes Lobster 2009 Holden, Eventide brown butter bao, Five Islands lobster shacks), Wabanaki (Penobscot Passamaquoddy Maliseet Mi'kmaq Abenaki 12,000 years, Indian Island Old Town 2500 members, birchbark canoe 400kg capacity 20kg weight, Maine Indian Claims Settlement 1980 USD 81.5M 60% of Maine largest US Native settlement at time, Abbe Museum Bar Harbor).
Portland Maine R4: Homer (1836 Prouts Neck 1883, Northeaster Blue Boat Eight Bells, studio NHL 2012, Farnsworth Rockland best NE regional, NC Wyeth railroad 1945, Andrew Christina's World 1948 Olson House Cushing, Jamie 1946), outdoors (kayaking premier eastern US, Island Trail 600km, L.L. Bean 1912 open 24hrs since 1951, Battie 475m, Sugarloaf 1291m above treeline), Congress St (Maine Historical 1822 2M items, Monument Square 1891, Press Herald 1862, West End Victorian), Rangeley (180km 650km2 Victorian resort 500 guests, brook trout 6-8kg, Reich 1897-1957 orgone FDA censored publications 1954-1956), lobster roll (cold Mayo vs warm butter, Reds Eats Wiscasset 45-90min full pound, Lukes Holden 2009, Eventide bao, Five Islands shacks), Wabanaki (Penobscot Passamaquoddy 12,000 years, Indian Island 2500 members, birchbark 400kg 20kg, Claims Settlement 1980 USD 81.5M 60% Maine largest US at time, Abbe Museum Bar Harbor).
Portland Maine R3: Fishing industry (European fishing station Monhegan 1622, groundfish collapse 1990s-2000s overfishing factory trawlers NMFS political pressure Gulf of Maine warming 0.4C/decade fastest 99% world oceans, lobster monoculture risk warming driving lobster north, 5000 licensed lobstermen ropeless gear fight 2021-2022 right whale), Immigrants (Maine whitest state 92%, Lewiston 7000 Somali 2001 secondary migration 20% by 2010, Mayor Souza letter 2002 national flashpoint, Portland 10-15,000 refugees Congo Sudan Iraq Afghanistan, Bayside most diverse neighborhood, adult education 3000 students), Oysters crafts (150+ oyster farms merroir terroir, Eventide 2012 12-20 varieties brown butter lobster bao bun, Maine 50 artisan cheesemakers Seal Cove Appleton Silvery Moon, Hardshore gin Plummer gin spirits), Harbor (Portland Harbor Museum Spring Point Ledge Lighthouse causeway 290m, Casco Bay Lines 1845 mail boat Bailey Island longest US scheduled mail route 3hr, Portland Fish Pier sea urchins 90% exported Japan uni sushi, Portland Schooner Timberwind 1931 Bagheera 1924), Creative economy (MECA 1882 600 students, Haystack Mountain 1950 most prestigious US summer craft school, Sabbathday Lake Shaker 3 members last active community world, Maine Design Week October), Politics (Angus King independent governor 1995-2003 senator 2013, ranked-choice voting 2018 federal 2020 presidential first states Maine Alaska, Paul LePage 1948 Lewiston 18 children homeless at 11 governor 2011-2019 38% 48% plurality).
Portland Maine R3: fishing (Monhegan 1622, groundfish collapse overfishing Gulf of Maine warming 0.4C/decade, lobster monoculture risk north shift, 5000 lobstermen ropeless fight), immigrants (Maine 92% white, Lewiston 7000 Somali 2001 20% by 2010 Souza letter 2002, Portland 10-15,000 refugees Bayside diverse, adult ed 3000), oysters (150+ farms merroir, Eventide 2012 12-20 varieties bao bun brown butter lobster, 50 cheesemakers, Hardshore gin), harbor (Spring Point causeway 290m, Casco Bay Lines 1845 mail boat longest US 3hr, sea urchin 90% Japan uni, Schooner Timberwind 1931), creative (MECA 1882, Haystack 1950 most prestigious summer craft US, Sabbathday Lake 3 last Shakers world, Maine Design Week), politics (Angus King independent governor senator, ranked-choice 2018 federal 2020 presidential Maine Alaska, LePage 1948 Lewiston 18 children homeless 11 governor 38-48% plurality).