Maine's largest city, on Casco Bay, offers up the best of many worlds. More large small town than city, Portland has been enjoying a revitalization over the past years. Home to a well-respected art museum, a symphony, a first-rate concert hall, numerous theater groups, a beautifully designed 28-store public market, and a ballpark---along with myriad nearby outdoor spaces---Portland distinguishes itself as the most happening town north of Boston.
The first European settlers arrived in the area in 1628, and the first home built on Machigonne (the Native American name for the neck that juts out into Casco Bay) went up in 1632. In 1658, Massachusetts commissioners renamed the greater Portland area Falmouth. Mills went up and families settled, living peaceably with the natives, until 1675, when King Philip, sachem of the Wampanoag tribe, declared war on the colonists. Nearly a century of bloody battles followed. A brief peace followed, bringing back settlers, creating a more compact village. When the second Indian War broke out, there were between 600 and 700 people living in Falmouth. Not long after, Falmouth was completely wiped out. In 1727, peace returned, and the colony got back to the business of colonizing. Fishing and lumbering were the prime occupations, and shortly thereafter shipbuilding followed. Falmouth began to prosper. Then troubles with England brewed up. After the War for Independence, the Neck separated from the rest of Falmouth in 1786 and took on the name Portland. In 1820, Maine was admitted into the Union, and Portland served as its first capital.
As the nation grew, so did demand for lumber and ships, and Portland rode the wave, becoming an important railway terminus. Then, shortly after the Civil War, devastation struck once again. The Great Fire of 1866 (started by a firecracker) leveled most of the city, but residents quickly rebuilt, earning once and for all Portland's motto, resurgam (I shall rise again). Evidence of this building boom can be seen in the proliferation of Victorian buildings that line the city streets.
Portland continued to flourish until after World War II, when it experienced a downswing. But in the early 1970s some enterprising individuals---largely artists and craftsmen---began taking up space and opening shops in the derelict Old Port, thus breathing new life into the city.
Today the Old Port is a booming commercial area, with tony shops, restaurants, and boutiques attracting year-round visitors. Congress Street, Portland's main artery and pre--Old Port heart of in-town Portland, has experienced its own recent resurgence. Not long ago, the street was lined with vacant storefronts. The relocation of Maine College of Art into a vacant department store in the center of town, the formation of an arts district, and the influx of businesses has revitalized this section of town.
The city can basically be broken into two sections: the peninsula and the 'burbs. While there are attractive residential areas on the other side of Interstate 295, which cuts the city in half, most of the action takes place on the peninsula. Peninsulites admit Portland extends beyond the highway---but only grudgingly. The highlights of the peninsula are:
