Black & White Portland, views from the 40's and 50's

[Portlander]

Corey, the shot looking down Congress (pre Time & Temperature Building, 1924) is great. Were there any other similar Congress Street photos?

 

[Corey]

^I agree! I don't know how I never stumbled upon all of these before. They are all from the Library of Congress archives, here. These are from the 1910's:

Here's another photo of Lincoln Park, it looks so urban and clean and despite not having any people in the photo (maybe due in part to the long exposure times required for photography at the time) I imagine it being full of life and surrounded by a vibrant neighorhood. Note the large church in this photo.

From the Western Prom towards Union Station and the hinterlands:

Cneal had a post on Rights of Way about the Baxter Block on Congress Street, the large building on the right of this photo, which still exists but was horrendously renovated in the 1950's:

Congress Street looking West

 

[Patrick]

Corey i agree. What a nice looking neigjborhood around the park. As portlander will be able t better explain than I, that church was removed in the 1980s to make way for lincoln square. It was part of a land swap deal that resulted in the replacement church being built on canco road. I believe...

 

[Portlander]

Patrick, you are correct. It was the First Baptist Church and there was a popular sub shop close to it that I think was called Somma's.

 

[John_French]

Patrick, you are correct. It was the First Baptist Church and there was a popular sub shop close to it that I think was called Somma's.

It was Somma's, before that it was the "Park's Department Clothing Store". They used the old yellow plastic see through curtains in the windows to stop the sun from fading the window displays.

 

[FrankLloydMike]

Seeing the context around Lincoln Park to its current surroundings is pretty sad. Of course, the loss of all the graceful elm trees seen in old photos like this--in parks as well as along streets--shows the impact that good urban trees can have in making a city more attractive.

I'm also particularly sad to see photos of the grand, old train stations in cities like Portland or Manchester. It's an unbelievable shame that people didn't see the value in these buildings, either for adaptive reuse, or better yet as modern transit hubs. In Manchester, I know that Union Station was demolished by B&M over the objections of the mayor at the time. I wonder how many other cities had similar struggles over private ownership of prominent landmarks.

Union Station, Manchester, NH, demolished ~1962

Finally, in response to the Right of Way's assessment of the Baxter Block, I wonder what the prospect of partial restoration would be. Obviously, the tower is gone and would be very costly and difficult to accurately replace, but depending on how the stucco facade was applied, some of the elegant old details might be hiding underneath. It's impossible to say for sure, but unlike when Victorian details are hacked off wooden buildings for vinyl siding, the stucco may have been applied on strapping or something right over the original facade.

 

[Patrick]

Seeing the context around Lincoln Park to its current surroundings is pretty sad. Of course, the loss of all the graceful elm trees seen in old photos like this--in parks as well as along streets--shows the impact that good urban trees can have in making a city more attractive.

I'm also particularly sad to see photos of the grand, old train stations in cities like Portland or Manchester. It's an unbelievable shame that people didn't see the value in these buildings, either for adaptive reuse, or better yet as modern transit hubs. In Manchester, I know that Union Station was demolished by B&M over the objections of the mayor at the time. I wonder how many other cities had similar struggles over private ownership of prominent landmarks.

Union Station, Manchester, NH, demolished ~1962

Finally, in response to the Right of Way's assessment of the Baxter Block, I wonder what the prospect of partial restoration would be. Obviously, the tower is gone and would be very costly and difficult to accurately replace, but depending on how the stucco facade was applied, some of the elegant old details might be hiding underneath. It's impossible to say for sure, but unlike when Victorian details are hacked off wooden buildings for vinyl siding, the stucco may have been applied on strapping or something right over the original facade.

I think plenty of cities went through the same thing--leading to historic preservation designations. Sometimes these codes go too far (preservation of a strip mall because it was the "first"???) but in general are much needed additions to land regs. A good rule of thumb is that if a building is one in front of which visitors would take a picture, it shouldn't be removed. I used to work in a law office on India Street--Portland's original downtown, pre-fire of 1866--and it was originally a Fire House with a tower on top. The tower was removed and the building was used for years as storage for a local clothing store--completely gutted. Then, when my boss bought it, he updated the inside to make it office friendly, renting out the portions he didn't need for his firm to other attorneys, and even built a new tower on top, in line with the original. The cool thing is that, in order to get historic preservation tax credits, the restoration in fact had to look exactly similar to the original tower. So it does. It's actually quite neat. It's the Engine House office building on India for anyone who is familiar (what a cool and up and coming neighborhood...CBD, the bike store, new development, East Ender, Duckfat, Miccuccis, etc. all on the same street or less than a block removed, and its structures like this that create much of the draw).

 

[Patrick]

http://maps.google.com/maps?rls=com...code_result&ct=title&resnum=1&ved=0CCQQ8gEwAA

 

[FrankLloydMike]

http://maps.google.com/maps?rls=com...code_result&ct=title&resnum=1&ved=0CCQQ8gEwAA

That's a great building, and the story behind is good to know, too--I feel like almost every nice building in a city like Portland or Manchester has at one time fallen into disuse or been a warehouse or something like that, before being restored. I've never actually walked by the engine house, but the India Street area is one of--among many--my favorite areas of Portland. I love how it's just slightly off the beaten path, but wedged between the Old Port and busier areas, and Munjoy Hill. I had no idea that was the original downtown.

 

[Patrick]

That's a great building, and the story behind is good to know, too--I feel like almost every nice building in a city like Portland or Manchester has at one time fallen into disuse or been a warehouse or something like that, before being restored. I've never actually walked by the engine house, but the India Street area is one of--among many--my favorite areas of Portland. I love how it's just slightly off the beaten path, but wedged between the Old Port and busier areas, and Munjoy Hill. I had no idea that was the original downtown.

Yeah, India Street is awesome. Mainly because there is a lot going on there, but it is still "undiscovered." You often hear the same sort of thing about cities like Portland or Portsmouth--the hidden gems. Well, the people who live or go to India Street certainly don't think it's hidden, but compared to Congress (a main street) and the Old Port (great but super busy and touristy most of the time) this is still just a great functioning urban neighborhood (and the sad thing is that this is probably the least well it's functioned in its history, which says how really great it is. It used to be the downtown, as I said (before the city was truly a 'city,' when Congress Street was 'Back Street') and after that was home to an Italian population with a broad Maine diaspora. In fact, that's the street where the "Italian" sandwich was born). It's up for redevelopment and is a constant controversy for most people because it is at one and the same time a gem, a slum, a good example of re-use, and a glimmering brand new area. The City's "dunk tank" (a detox facility) is there, as are abandoned buildings, low income housing, and a bunch of unsavory characters. Yet there is also some of the coolest restaurants in the City (mentioned above) literally steps off of India on Middle, and then there is the new Hampton Inn which has its backside on the street (still the same neighborhood though). It is also the street in Portland with perhaps the best direct views to the harbor. Picture perfect. Unobstructed view straight to the water from the top. It also ties in with the hippish-cool hipster chic Munjoy Hill top where there are more restaurants bars coffee houses and local markets that as recentlyas 6-7 years ago began replacing rundown or underutilized storefronts. And all this before you get to the better known areas like Congress (which intersects India, actually) or the Old Port (and India also intersects with Commercial Street). I really can think of few better places to invest in the City, although if I could build a house it would probably be in Gorham's Corner.

 

[Corey]

Deering Oaks photo via Portland Maine History 1786-Present blog. Not sure what the original source is.

 

[John_French]

Found this photo in the Congress Square Plaza Re-design Initiative TaskForce (that's a mouthful) presentation. (link to site) Looks like it's from the 60's?

I live across from the Gateway Garage so it's especially intriguing to me. It's interesting that there was a hotel drop off area at the rear of the hotel.

There was a surface parking lot for the hotel guests from where you see the rotary to Cumberland Avenue, valet service was the norm when they first opened this end of the hotel, (also moving the registration desk to this end) there was a multi-story brick garage with an auto elevator at Forest Ave and Cumberland Ave with the entrance off the surface parking lot for long term hotel guest, who would call down and have their cars brought up to the new entrance.

 

[Portlander]

This photo appears to have been taken during the early to mid sixties. The concrete looking addition to the Eastland which contained new apartments was completed in 1966 and the lot that the current WCSH building (1968) sits still has the previous structure on it. The Eastland's rooftop pool is not visible in this shot and was not added until the new addition was finished. I also think that the former YWCA building on Spring St (top center) was completed in 1965.

 

[markhb]

Looking at that Union Station photo makes me wonder, if that large grassy area in the background isn't Forest City Trotting Park, which stood at one time around the end of what is now Davis St., in the Thompson's Point area.

There was some industrialization in the area where the jail (or its dooryard) is now; in the late 60's / early 70's, UPS had its Maine headquarters there, before they built the monstrous facility in South Portland.

 

[Gervs]

Such a great thread everyone, keep the old photos coming. Cheers!

 

[John_French]

Looking at that Union Station photo makes me wonder, if that large grassy area in the background isn't Forest City Trotting Park, which stood at one time around the end of what is now Davis St., in the Thompson's Point area.

There was some industrialization in the area where the jail (or its dooryard) is now; in the late 60's / early 70's, UPS had its Maine headquarters there, before they built the monstrous facility in South Portland.

Entirely possible, this article says Douglas Street/Circle, but may have been on the other side of Congress:http://losttrottingparks.blogspot.com/2011/03/story-of-bill-wellman-trotter-injured.html?m=0