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Monument Square (Portland, Maine)

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Coordinates: 43°39′26″N 70°15′32″W / 43.65736°N 70.2589°W / 43.65736; -70.2589
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Monument Square
The square in 2017, viewed from Congress Street
Map
Location within Portland
Maintained byCity of Portland
LocationPortland, Maine, U.S.
Coordinates43°39′26″N 70°15′32″W / 43.657342°N 70.258924°W / 43.657342; -70.258924

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. One Monument Square and One City Center are among the buildings on the square itself, while 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.

Prior to 20th-century redevelopment, Middle Street originated from Market Square.[3][4] It ran 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

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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

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Main article: Old City Hall (Portland, Maine)

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

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Main article: Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument (Portland, Maine)

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]

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  • A 1902 sketch by Charles Quincy Goodhue of Market House (c. 1830), which was modified in 1833 to become the first city hall
    A 1902 sketch by Charles Quincy Goodhue of Market House (c. 1830), which was modified in 1833 to become the first city hall
  • Black and white photo of a grand Greek revival civic building with a gable roof, an oversized portico supported by four large ionic columns flanked to the left and right by tall, barrel arch windows, below a simple pediment. The building has a public open space paved with dirt and granite pavers and crossed by streetcar tracks in front of it. The building is surrounded by nineteenth century mixed use urban buildings, mostly of brick and granite. There are multiple people and horse-drawn carts in the public space.
    1833 city hall (with the United States Hotel behind) in 1886. It was demolished 1888 and replaced by today's Soldiers and Sailors Monument
  • The 1868 city hall, pictured around 1904
    The 1868 city hall, pictured around 1904
  • View of the Portland City Hall circa 1910
    View of the Portland City Hall circa 1910
  • Remnants of the building, formerly attached to 15 Monument Square, demolished to make way for the entrance to One City Center parking garage
    Remnants of the building, formerly attached to 15 Monument Square, demolished to make way for the entrance to One City Center parking garage

See also

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References

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  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. ^ "Middle St. looking towards Monument Square, Portland, Me - Digital Collections - National Library of Medicine". collections.nlm.nih.gov. Retrieved 2024-03-11.
  5. ^ "One Monument Square, Portland - SkyscraperPage.com". skyscraperpage.com.
  6. ^ "Ribbon Cutting". Evening Express. November 21, 1970.
  7. ^ "Public Market House". Public Market House. Retrieved 2024-03-21.
  8. ^ "Tied to a City, a Farmers' Market Proves Hardy" – The New York Times, April 11, 2007
  9. ^ "Portland Public Market". Rudy Bruner Award. Retrieved 2024-03-21.
  10. ^ City of Portland 1940, p. 214.
  11. ^ Moon, John (2009). Portland. Arcadia Publishing. p. 11. ISBN 978-0-7385-6517-0.
  12. ^ City of Portland 1940, p. 230.
  13. ^ City of Portland 1940, p. 215.
  14. ^ "NRHP nomination for Portland Soldiers and Sailors Monument". National Park Service. Retrieved 2016-02-24.
  15. ^ Tobin, Michael (October 22, 2011). "A monument of malcontent?". Portland Daily Sun. Archived from the original on 3 April 2012. Retrieved 22 October 2011.
  16. ^ Acts and resolves passed by the ... Legislature of the state of Maine
  17. ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.

Sources

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  • 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.
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43°39′26″N 70°15′32″W / 43.65736°N 70.2589°W / 43.65736; -70.2589

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