Monument_Square_(Portland,_Maine)

Monument Square (Portland, Maine)

Monument Square (Portland, Maine)

Town square in downtown Portland, Maine


Monument Square (formerly Market Square[1] or Haymarket Square)[2] is a town square in downtown Portland, Maine, about halfway between the East Bayside and Old Port neighborhoods. The Time and Temperature Building, Fidelity Trust Building, and the main branch of the Portland Public Library are on Congress Street, across from the square, while One Monument Square and One City Center are among the buildings on the square itself.

Quick Facts Maintained by, Location ...

Prior to 20th-century redevelopment, Middle Street originated from Market Square.[3][4] It continued east through where The Maine Lobsterman statue is today, before continuing its current route from its intersection with Temple, Spring and Union Streets. The original stretch, which formerly met Federal Street in the square, is now paved with bricks and is no longer Middle Street.

Constituent buildings

A 2024 view of Congress Street from Monument Square, including the Time and Temperature Building (left) and the M&T Bank Building

One Monument Square is a ten-story office building on the eastern edge of the square,[5] located on the former site of the United States Hotel. The building opened after a ribbon-cutting ceremony in November 1970. Initial tenants included the law firms Bernstein, Shur, Sawyer & Nelson and Pierce, Atwood, Scribner, Allen, Smith & Lancaster, as well as Amica Mutual Insurance.[6] It was significantly renovated in 2015.

28 Monument Square was built in 1871. In 2006, the first floor and basement of the building became the home of Public Market House, in which several vendors flank a narrow central corridor.[7] Some vendors relocated to Public Market House from the nearby Portland Public Market building, at the corner of Preble Street and Cumberland Avenue, which closed earlier the same year.[8][9]

Old City Hall

In 1825, the Town of Portland built Market House in Market Square to facilitate the sale produce and livestock. In 1833, the structure was modified to serve as Portland's first city hall.[10][11] In 1862, it was replaced by a new city hall, located on Congress Street at the head of Exchange Street.[12] The old city hall was demolished in 1888 and replaced by the Soldiers and Sailors Monument, at which time Market Square was renamed Monument Square.[13]

Portland Soldiers and Sailors Monument

The Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument (also known as "Our Lady of Victories") stands in the center of Monument Square, on the former site of Portland's 1833 city hall.[14] Dedicated on October 28, 1891,[15] it honors "those brave men of Portland, soldiers of the United States Army and sailors of the Navy of the United States who died in defense of the country in the late civil war".[16] It was added to the National Register of Historic Places on April 1, 1998.[17]

See also


References

  1. Maine Register Or State Year-book and Legislative Manual from April 1 ... to April 1 ... J.B. Gregory. 1888.
  2. "Hay Market Square, Portland, 1830". Maine Memory Network. Retrieved 2024-03-11.
  3. "Middle Street from Monument Square, Portland, ca. 1910". Maine Memory Network. Retrieved 2024-03-11.
  4. "Ribbon Cutting". Evening Express. November 21, 1970.
  5. "Public Market House". Public Market House. Retrieved 2024-03-21.
  6. "Portland Public Market". Rudy Bruner Award. Retrieved 2024-03-21.
  7. Moon, John (2009). Portland. Arcadia Publishing. p. 11. ISBN 978-0-7385-6517-0.
  8. "NRHP nomination for Portland Soldiers and Sailors Monument". National Park Service. Retrieved 2016-02-24.
  9. Tobin, Michael (October 22, 2011). "A monument of malcontent?". Portland Daily Sun. Archived from the original on 3 April 2012. Retrieved 22 October 2011.

Sources

  • Barnes, Albert F. (1984). Greater Portland Celebration 350. Portland, Maine: Guy Gannett Publishing Co. ISBN 0-930096-58-4.
  • City of Portland (1940). Portland City Guide. Portland, Maine: The Forest City Printing Company.
  • Eisenberg, Christiane (2007). "'German Gymnastics' in Britain, or the Failure of Culture Transfer". In Manz, Stefan; Beerbühl, Margrit Schulte; Davis, John R. (eds.). Migration and Transfer from Germany to Britain, 1660-1914. Munich, Germany: K.G. Saur. pp. 131–146. ISBN 978-3-598-23002-8.
  • Greater Portland Landmarks (1986). Portland (2nd ed.). Hallowell, Maine: Greater Portland Landmarks, Inc. ISBN 0-939761-07-6.
  • Leonard, Fred Eugene (1923). A Guide to the History of Physical Education. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and New York, New York: Lea & Febiger.
  • Sears, Donald A. (1978). John Neal. Boston, Massachusetts: Twayne Publishers. ISBN 080-5-7723-08.

43.65736°N 70.2589°W / 43.65736; -70.2589


Share this article:

This article uses material from the Wikipedia article Monument_Square_(Portland,_Maine), and is written by contributors. Text is available under a CC BY-SA 4.0 International License; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.