PORTLAND ME

PORTLAND ME

The Eastern Promenade

Fort Allen Park

Built - 1890

The city of Portland is the largest one in the state of Maine as well as being the cultural, social and economic capital. Tourists are drawn to this city for its historic Old Port district along Portland Harbor which is at the mouth of the Fore River and part of Casco Bay. The city also offers an Arts District which runs along Congress Street in the center of the city. Portland Head Light in nearby Cape Elizabeth is also a popular tourist draw.

The first European settler in the area was Captain Christopher Levett, an English naval captain who was granted 6,000 acres by King Charles 1st of England in 1623, to found a settlement on Casco Bay. The peninsula was first permanently settled in 1633 as a fishing and trading village named Casco but soon changed to Falmouth until later destroyed a number of times but rebuilt in 1786 after the American Revolution where it soon became a commercial port and shipping center whence it has grown since.

During the Victorian era, there are known to have been 7 bandstands built in Portland in the "Queen Anne" and "Shingle" styles popular in those days. A fine example of a Shingle Style is the one that is located on the Eastern Promenade in Fort Allen Park that was built in 1890. This particular bandstand's style is influenced by a Portland architect, John Calvin Stevens, who developed this unique look during the bandstand heyday of 1880-1920. Mr. Stevens designed stressed a natural appearance of wood in his structures with his trademark shingles circling the bandstand on posts, balustrades and even on roofs.