Timeline of Portland, Maine

The following is a timeline of the [History of Portland, Maine|Portland, Maine|history] of the city of Portland, Maine, United States, from its settling in 1633 to the present day.

17th century

1632 - 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.

18th century

1718 - Town of Falmouth established.
1740 - First Parish Church built.
1763 - Falmouth Library Society organized.
1764 - Population: about 2,000.
1768
* Portland Fire Department formed.
* Portland Farmers' Market established.
1775
* Thompson's War
* Town burned by British.
1785 - Falmouth Gazette newspaper begins publication.
1785/1786 - Peleg Wadsworth built what became known as the Wadsworth-Longfellow House.
1786 - Falmouth renamed "Portland."
1790
* Gazette of Maine newspaper began publication.
* Population: 2,240.
* Lighthouse built.
1791 - 159–161 Fore Street, the 1807 birthplace of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, built.
1794 - Fort Sumner built.
1796 - Portland Marine Society incorporated.

19th century

1800 - Population: 3,704.
1803
* Eastern Argus newspaper began publication.
* United States Hotel built in Haymarket Square.
1805 - Portland Benevolent Society incorporated.
1806 - Gorham Academy built.
1807
* Portland Observatory built.
* Birth of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.
Queen's Hospital opened
1819 - State constitutional convention held.
1820
* Portland became the capital of the 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.
* Market (or Haymarket) House built Haymarket Square.
1826 - Portland Athenaeum founded.
1827 - John Neal opened the first public gymnasium in the U.S. founded by an American in the Market House.
1828
*Maine's first literary periodical, The Yankee, founded by John Neal.
* 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 moved from Portland to Augusta.
* City of Portland chartered.
* Cumberland and Oxford Canal opened bringing interior trade to Portland harbor from Long Lake.
1833 - Market House converted into Portland's first [Old Portland City Hall (Maine)|City Hall (Portland, Maine)|City Hall].
1834 - Sylvester Graham Riot at the Temple Street Church.
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 began publication.
1846 - Portland Company established to build railway locomotives.
1849 - Portland Gas Light Co. incorporated.
1850
* Population: 20,815.
1851 - Kennebec and Portland Railroad began operating.
1852 - Commercial Street completed on land reclaimed from the Fore River estuary.
1853
* Grand Trunk Railway to Montreal began 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.
* Mechanics' Hall completed.
1860
* Victoria Mansion built.
* Portland Railroad Company established.
1862
* Portland Daily Press newspaper began publication.
* Maine Central Railroad Company began operations.
* Second iteration of City Hall built on Congress Street.
* Portland Water Company established.
1863
* Battle of Portland Harbor.
* Portland street car service began.
* Galt wharf grain elevator completed for export of Canadian wheat.
1865 - Fort Gorges completed.
1866
* Fire.
* Lincoln Park established.
1867
* Portland Institute and Public Library founded.
* First Baptist Church built.
* Water company established to supply the city from Sebago Lake.
1868 - Third City Hall, St. Paul's Church and Rectory and the Falmouth Hotel built.
1869
* Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception construction completed.
* Portland Yacht Club established.
1870 - Cumberland and Oxford Canal abandoned when Portland and Ogdensburg Railroad reached Sebago Lake.
1872 - U.S. Customhouse built.
1874
* Deering High School established.
* Maine Medical Center established.
1875
* Southworth Press established.
* The Cumberland Club established.
1878 - University of Southern Maine established.
1879 - Deering Oaks Park 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.
* The Portland Club established.
1888
* Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Monument unveiled at Longfellow Square in West End.
* First City Hall demolished.
* Union Station built.
1890 - Population: 36,425.
1891
* Portland Soldiers and Sailors Monument, erected on the site of the first City Hall, dedicated in Monument Square.
* Maine Eye and Ear Infirmary building completed.
1892 - Six Towns Times established.
1895 - State of Maine Armory building completed.
1897
* Jefferson Theatre opened.
* Maine Music Festival began.
* St. Lawrence Church and Williston-West Church built.
1898 - Waynflete School established.
1899
* Deering became 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.
1902 - First Amato's opened on India Street.
1906
* Portland Company ceased building railway locomotives.
* Grand Trunk Railway Station built on India Street.
1908
* Portland Society of Arts and Crafts organized.
* City Hall destroyed by fire.
1909
* The fourth and current City Hall built.
* Children's Hospital built at 68 High Street.
1910
* Memorial statue of Thomas Brackett Reed unveiled on the Western Promenade.
* Cumberland County Courthouse built.
* Population: 58,571.
1911
* L. D. M. Sweat Memorial Art Museum dedicated.
* Portland Terminal Company formed.
* Masonic Temple built.
* Edward T. Gignoux United States Courthouse built.
1912
* Merrill Auditorium built.
* Eastern Promenade laid out according to design by Olmsted Brothers.
1913
* State of Maine Express began direct Pullman railway service from major U.S. cities to Portland.
* Historical pageant took place on Eastern Promenade.
* B&M Baked Beans factory built.
1914
* Portland–Lewiston Interurban service began between Portland and Lewiston.
* Green Memorial A.M.E. Zion Church, Portland Exposition Building and Woodfords Club built.
1916 - Million Dollar Bridge opened.
1917
* Baxter Boulevard established at Back Cove.
* Cheverus High School established.
* Oakhurst Dairy established.
1919
* Portland designated eastern end of the Theodore Roosevelt International Highway.
* Casco Bay Lines established.
1921 - Etz Chaim Synagogue built.
1923
* Portland Symphony Orchestra and Children's Theatre of Portland established.
* Press Herald Building completed.
* 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.
1925 - [Central 1866 Great fire of Portland, Maine|Fire Station (Portland, Maine)|Central Fire Station] built on part of Lincoln Park.
1926 - U.S. Route 1 linked Portland to the United States highway system.
1927 - Eastland Hotel opened.
1928 - James E. Barlow hired as second City Manager.
1929 - State Theatre opened.
1930
* The Gull began international Pullman train service through Portland from the Maritimes.
* Fitzpatrick Stadium built.
1931 - Portland-Westbrook Municipal Airport opened.
1932 - Main Post Office building completed.
1933
*End of interurban service from Portland to surrounding communities.
1934 - Flying Yankee began streamliner service to Portland.
1936 - The Village Cafe opened on Newbury Street. It remained in business for 71 years.
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 opened.
* Portland street car system dismantled.
1942 - Battery Steele built.
1944 - A-26 Invader crashed near Portland airport, Maine's worst aircraft accident.
1946 - Baxter Woods municipal forest established.
1947 - Maine Turnpike connected Portland to what became the Interstate Highway System.
1950 - Population: 77,634.
1953 - WCSH begins broadcasting.
1954
* WMTW begins broadcasting.
* Original Veterans Memorial Bridge built.
1960 - Tukey's Bridge built.
1961
* Demolition of Union Station ended daily passenger train service to Portland.
* Greyhound bus station built on St. John Street.
1963 - Falmouth Hotel demolished.
1964 - Greater Portland Landmarks preservation group formed.
1965
* Kennedy Park housing built.
* United States Hotel demolished in Monument Square.
1966
* Greater Portland Transit District established.
* Grand Trunk Railway Station demolished.
1967
* Summer weekend passenger train service to Portland ended.
* Franklin Street demolished, to be replaced by Franklin Arterial.
1969
* One Monument Square opened on the former site of the United States Hotel.
* Franklin Towers completed, becoming Maine's tallest residential building.
* Portland Rugby Football Club established.
1970 - University of Southern Maine's Portland campus established.
1971
* The Canal Bank Plaza is built on the site of the former Falmouth Hotel.
* Construction of Interstate 295 through Portland was completed.
1973
* Old Port Festival began.
* WMPG begins broadcasting.
* Salt Institute for Documentary Studies founded.
1974
* The Hollow Reed restaurant in the Old Port was founded.
* Profile Theatre established.
1975 - Portland Pirates ice hockey team established.
1976 - Children's Museum of Maine founded.
1977
* Cumberland County Civic Center built.
* American Hockey League iteration of the Maine Mariners ice-hockey team established.
1978 - Portland Stage Company active.
1979 - East End Treatment Plant established.
1983 - Portland Museum of Art expanded into the Charles Shipman Payson Building.
1984
* Sister city relationship established with Shinagawa, Tokyo, Japan.
* Portland Ice Arena opened.
1985 - Portland Monthly magazine began publication.
1988
* Maine Island Trail Association established.
* Gritty McDuff's, considered Maine's first brewpub, opens on Fore Street.
1989 - East Coast Hockey League iteration of the Maine Mariners ice-hockey team established.
1992 - AHL Maine Mariners became defunct.
1993
* Portland Pirates ice hockey team formed.
* Maine Narrow Gauge Railroad Museum opened.
* Children's Museum moved to its third home, beside the Portland Museum of Art on Free Street.
1994
* Portland Chamber Music Festival began.
* PORTopera founded.
* Portland Sea Dogs minor-league baseball team established; Hadlock Field opened.
* Cumberland County Jail built.
1996
*Westbrook College merged with the University of New England, later assuming the name of the latter.
*Portland bus terminal opened at Thompson's Point.
1997
* Casco Bay Bridge opens.
* City website went online.

21st century

2000 - First Friday Art Walk established.
2001
* Portland Transportation Center completed, incorporating a train station beside the bus station.
* Downeaster restored passenger train service to Portland.
2003 - Sister city relationship established with Mytilene, Greece.
2006 - Maine Roller Derby and Portland Society of Architects founded.
2008 - Ocean Gateway International Marine Passenger Terminal opened.
2009
* Port City Music Hall opened.
* Congress Street designated an historic district.
* Maine Celtics basketball team established.
2010
* State Theatre reopened.
* Population: 66,194 city; 514,098 metro.
New Veterans Memorial Bridge completed.
2014 - The fourth and current iteration of the Martin's Point Bridge is completed.
2016
* Portland Pirates ice hockey team became defunct.
* First departure from International Marine Terminal.
2021- Children's Museum & Theatre of Maine opened at Thompson's Point.
2023
* Portland Hearts of Pine soccer team established.
* 201 Federal Street completed, surpassed Franklin Towers as Maine's tallest residential building.
2024 - Record tide level of the Fore River causes severe flooding.