Portland

Portland, city, seat (1760) of Cumberland county, southwestern Maine, U.S. The state’s largest city, it is the hub of a metropolitan statistical area that includes the cities of South Portland and Westbrook and the towns of Falmouth, Cape Elizabeth, Cumberland, Freeport, Gorham, Scarborough, Windham, and Yarmouth and, in York county, the town of Old Orchard Beach. The city is built largely on two hilly peninsulas overlooking Casco Bay and its many islands.

Portland was settled in 1633 by the Englishmen Richard Tucker and George Cleeve. During its early years it was known by several names (Machigonne, Indigreat, Elbow, The Neck, Casco, and Falmouth). It was raided in 1676 by Indians and in 1690 by French and Indians. In 1775 the settlement (then known as Falmouth) was bombarded and burned by the British. Rebuilt, it was incorporated as a town in 1786 and named for the Isle of Portland in Dorsetshire, England. When Maine became a state in 1820, Portland served as the capital until 1831. A fire that resulted from an Independence Day celebration destroyed much of the city centre in 1866. Reconstruction soon took place, however, and the city continued to grow. Portland’s traditional fishing, shipping, and commercial activities were increasingly supplemented by manufacturing industries. Naval shipbuilding was important in World Wars I and II.

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Portland is a busy transportation and commercial centre and a major petroleum port, the eastern terminus of the Portland-Montreal oil pipeline. It has extensive foreign and coastal trade. The city’s diversified manufactures include semiconductors, food products, stainless steel, and printed materials; ship modernization and repair and commercial fishing also are important. Within the metropolitan area pulp and paper, lumber and wood products, footwear, electromechanical products, electronics, and plastic components are produced. The city is the location of the Westbrook College Campus (1831) of the University of New England and has an art museum and a symphony orchestra. The University of Southern Maine (founded 1878) has campuses in Portland and nearby Gorham. Portland-born novelist Elizabeth Strout won a Pulitzer Prize in 2009 for her popular novel Olive Kitteridge (2008), in which she introduced one of literature’s more memorable characters: the eponymous cantankerous yet compassionate teacher living in the small town of Crosby, Maine. The book was made into an HBO miniseries (2014) that starred Frances McDormand.

Colonial landmarks in Portland include the childhood home (1785) of the poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Tate House (1755). The Portland Head Light (1791), one of the oldest lighthouses in the United States, is located in nearby Cape Elizabeth. The renovated Old Port Exchange area along Portland’s waterfront is now the site of trendy shops and restaurants. The Two Lights and Crescent Beach state parks are nearby. Inc. city, 1832. Pop. (2000) 64,249; Portland–South Portland–Biddeford Metro Area, 487,568; (2010) 66,194; Portland–South Portland–Biddeford Metro Area, 514,098.