Timeline of Portland, Maine

The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Portland, Maine, USA.

Prior to 19th century

 * 1633 - 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.
 * 1718 - Town of Falmouth established.
 * 1740 - First Parish Church built.
 * 1763 - Falmouth Library Society organized.
 * 1764 - Population: about 2,000.
 * 1775
 * Thompson's War
 * Town burned by British.
 * 1768 - Portland Fire Department formed, March 29.
 * 1785 - Falmouth Gazette newspaper begins publication.
 * 1785/6 - Wadsworth-Longfellow House built.
 * 1786 - Falmouth renamed "Portland."
 * 1790
 * Gazette of Maine newspaper begins publication.
 * Population: 2,240.
 * Lighthouse built.
 * 1796 - Portland Marine Society incorporated.

19th century

 * 1800 - Population: 3,704.
 * 1803 - Eastern Argus newspaper begins publication.
 * 1805 - Portland Benevolent Society incorporated.
 * 1806 - Gorham Academy built.
 * 1807
 * Portland Observatory built.
 * Birth of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.
 * 1819 - State constitutional convention held.
 * 1820
 * Portland becomes capital of 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.
 * 1826 - Portland Athenaeum founded.
 * 1827 - John Neal opened the first public gymnasium in the US founded by an American in town hall in Market Square
 * 1828
 * Maine's first literary periodical, The Yankee, founded.
 * 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 moves from Portland to Augusta.
 * City of Portland chartered.
 * Cumberland and Oxford Canal opened bringing interior trade to Portland harbor from Long Lake
 * 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 begins publication.
 * 1846 - Portland Company established to build railway locomotives.
 * 1849 - Portland Gas Light Co. incorporated.
 * 1850
 * Curtis' chewing gum manufactory in business.
 * Population: 20,815.
 * 1851 - Kennebec and Portland Rail Road begins operating.
 * 1853
 * Grand Trunk Railway to Montreal begins 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.
 * 1862
 * Portland Daily Press newspaper begins publication.
 * Maine Central Railroad Company begins operations.
 * 1863
 * Battle of Portland Harbor.
 * Portland street car service began.
 * Galt wharf grain elevator completed for export of Canadian wheat.
 * 1866 - Fire.
 * 1867
 * Portland Institute and Public Library founded.
 * First Baptist Church built.
 * Water company established to supply the city from Sebago Lake.
 * 1868 - U.S. Customhouse and St. Paul's Church and Rectory built.
 * 1869 - Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception construction completed.
 * 1870 - Cumberland and Oxford Canal abandoned when Portland and Ogdensburg Railroad reached Sebago Lake.
 * 1875 - Southworth Press 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.
 * 1888 - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Monument unveiled at Longfellow Square in West End.
 * 1890 - Population: 36,425.
 * 1891 - Portland Soldiers and Sailors Monument dedicated on Monument Square.
 * 1897
 * Jefferson Theatre opens.
 * Maine Music Festival begins.
 * St. Lawrence Church and Williston-West Church built.
 * 1898 - Waynflete School established.
 * 1899
 * Deering becomes 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.
 * 1906 - Portland Company ceased building railway locomotives.
 * 1908 - Portland Society of Arts and Crafts organized.
 * 1909 - City Hall re-built.
 * 1910
 * Memorial statue of Thomas Brackett Reed unveiled.
 * Population: 58,571.
 * 1911
 * L. D. M. Sweat Memorial Art Museum dedicated.
 * Portland Terminal Company formed.
 * 1912
 * Kotzschmar Memorial Organ installed in City Hall's Merrill Auditorium.
 * Eastern Promenade laid out according to design by Olmsted Brothers.
 * 1913
 * State of Maine Express began direct Pullman railway service from major US cities to Portland.
 * Historical pageant takes place on Eastern Promenade.
 * 1914
 * Portland–Lewiston Interurban service began between Portland and Lewiston.
 * Portland Exposition Building and Green Memorial A.M.E. Zion Church built.
 * 1916 - Million Dollar Bridge opens.
 * 1918 - Queen's Hospital for women opens.
 * 1919 - Portland designated eastern end of the Theodore Roosevelt International Highway.
 * 1921 - Etz Chaim Synagogue built.
 * 1923
 * Portland Symphony Orchestra and Children's Theatre of Portland established.
 * 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.
 * 1926 - U.S. Route 1 linked Portland to the United States highway system.
 * 1928 - James E. Barlow hired as second City Manager
 * 1929 - State Theatre opens.
 * 1930 - The Gull began international Pullman train service through Portland from the Maritimes.
 * 1933
 * Portland-Westbrook Municipal Airport established.
 * End of interurban service from Portland to surrounding communities.
 * 1934 - Flying Yankee began streamliner service to Portland.
 * 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 opens.
 * Portland street car system dismantled.
 * 1942 - Battery Steele built.
 * 1944 - A-26 Invader crash near Portland airport was Maine's worst aircraft accident.
 * 1946 - Baxter Woods municipal forest established.
 * 1947 - Maine Turnpike connected Portland to what would become the Interstate Highway System.
 * 1950 - Population: 77,634.
 * 1953 - WCSH begins broadcasting.
 * 1954 - WMTW begins broadcasting.
 * 1960 - Tukey's Bridge built.
 * 1961 - Demolition of Union Station ended daily passenger train service to Portland.
 * 1964 - Greater Portland Landmarks preservation group formed.
 * 1965 - Kennedy Park housing built.
 * 1967 - Summer weekend passenger train service to Portland ended.
 * 1970 - University of Southern Maine Portland campus established.
 * 1973
 * Old Port Festival begins.
 * WMPG begins broadcasting.
 * Salt Institute for Documentary Studies founded.
 * 1974 - The Hollow Reed restaurant in the Old Port is founded.
 * 1976 - Children's Museum of Maine founded.
 * 1977 - Cumberland County Civic Center built.
 * 1978 - Portland Stage Company active.
 * 1984
 * Sister city relationship established with Shinagawa, Tokyo, Japan.
 * Portland Ice Arena opens.
 * 1985 - Portland Monthly magazine begins publication.
 * 1993
 * Portland Pirates ice hockey team formed.
 * Maine Narrow Gauge Railroad Museum opens.
 * 1994
 * Portland Chamber Music Festival begins.
 * PORTopera founded.
 * Hadlock Field opens.
 * 1997
 * Casco Bay Bridge opens.
 * City website online (approximate date).

21st century

 * 2001 - Downeaster restores passenger train service to Portland.
 * 2003 - Sister city relationship established with Mytilene, Greece.
 * 2006 - Maine Roller Derby and Portland Society of Architects founded
 * 2008 - Maine Mead Works in business.
 * 2009
 * Port City Music Hall opens.
 * Congress Street designated an historic district.
 * 2010
 * State Theatre reopens.
 * Population: 66,194 city; 514,098 metro.