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Maine Places

Resource Guide

Portland, Cumberland County

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County

Cumberland County (set off from York County in 1760)


Incorporated

1786 from part of Falmouth


Incorporated as a City

1833


Previous Designations

Machigonne; Casco Neck; Falmouth Neck; Munjoys Neck


Boundary Changes

Part of Westbrook was annexed in 1845

The former city of Deering (set off from Westbrook in 1871, incorporated as a city in 1889) was annexed in 1899

Crotch (Cliff) Island was annexed from Cumberland in 1889

Long Island was set off and incorporated in 1993

Part of Falmouth was annexed in 2002


Prominent Islands

Cliff Island (Crotch Island), Cushing Island (formerly Andrews' Island, Cushing's Island), Great Diamond Island, House Island, Jewell Island (westerly portion), Little Chebeague Island (westerly portion), Little Diamond Island, Peaks Island, Ram Island


Villages, Locations and Settlements

Allen's Corner (or Allens Corner, former post office at North Deering), Back Cove, Bradley's Corner (Bradley Corner), Brighton Corner, Deering, Deering Junction, East Deering, East End, Highlands, Libbytown, Lunts Corner, Mariner (former post office), Morrills Corner (Morrill's Corner, formerly Stevens' Plains, or Stevens Plains), Munjoy Hill, Nasons Corner, North Deering, Oakdale, Old Port, Portland, Riverton, Rosemont, Stroudwater, Trefethen (on Peaks Island), Sagamore Village, Summit View Park, West End, West End Station (former post office), Woodfords (formerly Woodford's Corner)


Adjacent Towns and Townships

Cape Elizabeth, Chebeague Island, Falmouth, Long Island, South Portland, Westbrook


Maps

Maine Historical Maps: Portland


Cemeteries

Selected Inscriptions From the Old Burying Ground (Eastern Cemetery) in Portland

Spirits Alive: Dedicated to the Eastern Cemetery, the oldest historic landscape in Portland, Maine


Census Records

1837 Maine Surplus Revenue Census


Church Records

First Church of Falmouth Marriages, 1750-1753

Marriages at St. Paul's Church in Portland, 1765-1831

Portland, Maine. Abyssinian Church Records, 1835-1876

Members of the Second Parish Church of Portland, 1898


Directories

The Portland Directory & Register [1827] (J. Adams, 1827)

The Portland Reference Book and City Directory for 1850-51 (Portland, Me.: Thurston and Co., 1850)

The Portland Reference Book and City Directory for 1858-59 (Portland, Me.: Brown Thurston, Steam Printer, 1858)

The Portland Reference Book and City Directory for 1863-64 (Portland, Me.: Thurston and Co., 1863)

Portland, Maine Directories, 1889-91 [Ancestry.com] — Directory listing of over 65,000 residents of Portland, Maine between 1889 and 1891

1912 Directory of Portland including the city of South Portland and the town of Cape Elizabeth (Portland, Me.: Portland Directory Co., 1912)


Military Records

Portland Privateers in the War of 1812

World War I Soldiers Index: Portland


Newspapers

Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram

Maine Obituaries: Portland Press Herald

Maine Obituaries: Maine Sunday Telegram

Eastern Argus - 1824-1843 [Newspapers.com]

Portland Sunday Telegram - 1891-1925 [Newspapers.com]

Evening Express - 1887-1991 [Newspapers.com]

Portland Press Herald - 1835-present [Newspapers.com]

Portland Newspapers — at Chronicling America

Maine News Index - A collection of abstracts that cover substantive Maine — or Portland-related articles published in local newspapers and magazines.

Casco Bay Weekly (1988-2004)


Vital Records

Falmouth, Maine, Town Records, Book 1, 1718-1728

Falmouth, Maine, Town Records, Book 2, 1728-1773

Early Birth and Death Records of Falmouth

Early Falmouth Marriage Intentions, A-F

Early Falmouth Marriage Intentions, F-M

Early Falmouth Marriage Intentions, M-S

Early Falmouth Marriage Intentions, S-Y

Portland Marriages, 1804

Intentions of Marriage Recorded in Deering, 1871-1881

Intentions of Marriage Recorded in Deering, 1882-1891

Deering, Maine Marriage Intentions February 13, 1890-February 20, 1892


Miscellaneous Resources

1760 Falmouth Tax Valuation

1924 Portland Tax Records

Maine Town Reports: Portland

A Declaration of the Inhabitants of Scarborough, Falmouth, Black Point, and Casco, 1663

Widows of Portland, 1806

Portland Temperance Petition, 1845

Portland Board of Trade Members, 1887


General Resources

FamilySearch Catalog: Portland, Cumberland, Maine

Official Website: City of Portland

The Greater Portland Chapter of the Maine Genealogical Society

Maine Memory Network: Portland

Maine Memory Network: Cliff Island

Maine Memory Network: Peaks Island


Bibliography

______, The Portland Directory & Register (J. Adams, 1827)

______, Portland soldiers and sailors: a brief sketch of the part they took in the War of the Rebellion (Portland, Me.: Bosworth Post, Grand Army of the Republic, 1884)

______, Directory of Portland from Frederick W. Beers' Atlas of Cumberland Co., Maine (New York, N.Y.: F.W. Beers, 1871)

______, The semi-centennial anniversary of the Free Street Baptist Church, Portland, Me. September 26-27, 1886 (Portland, Me.: Brown, Thurston & Co., 1887)

______, History and manual of the Second Parish Church of Portland, Maine : with a list of members (Portland, Me. : Smith & Sales, 1898)

______, Directory of Portland and Vicinity, 1895 (Portland, Me.: The Thurston Print Co., 1895)

______, Directory of Portland, 1904 (Portland, Me., 1904)

______, 1912 Directory of Portland including the city of South Portland and the town of Cape Elizabeth (Portland, Me.: Portland Directory Co., 1912)

______, A book commemorating the one hundred and fiftieth anniversary of Saint Stephen's Church, Portland, Maine: the first Episcopal parish organized in the State of Maine([Portland, Me. : Printwell Printing Co., 1913])

______, Casco Bay Directory, 1924

______, Portland 1925 Directory (1925)

______, Directory of Portland, South Portland and Cape Elizabeth, 1936 (Portland, Me.: Fred L. Tower Co., 1936)

______, Portland City Guide (Portland, Me.: Forest City Print. Co., 1940)

______, Directory of Portland, South Portland and Cape Elizabeth, 1944 (Portland, Me.: Fred L. Tower Co., 1944)

______, Directory of Portland, South Portland and Cape Elizabeth, 1947 (Portland, Me.: Fred L. Tower Co., 1947)

Bacon, George F., Portland: its representative business men and its points of interest (Newark, N.J.: Glenwood Pub. Co., 1891)

Beckett, S. B., The Portland Reference Book and City Directory for 1850-51 (Portland, Me.: Thurston and Co., 1850)

Beckett, S. B., The Portland Reference Book and City Directory for 1856-57 (Portland, Me.: Thurston and Co., 1856)

Beckett, S. B., The Portland Reference Book and City Directory for 1858-59 (Portland, Me.: Brown Thurston, Steam Printer, 1858)

Beckett, S. B., The Portland Reference Book and City Directory for 1863-64 (Portland, Me.: Thurston and Co., 1863)

Beckett, S. B., The Portland Reference Book and City Directory for 1866-67 (Portland, Me.: Thurston and Co., 1866)

Beckett, S. B., The Portland Reference Book and City Directory for 1868 (Portland, Me.: Thurston and Co., 1868)

Beckett, S. B., The Portland Reference Book and City Directory for 1869 (Portland, Me.: Thurston and Co., 1869)

Beckett, S. B., The Portland Reference Book and City Directory for 1871 (Portland, Me.: Thurston and Co., 1871)

Beckett, S. B., The Portland Reference Book and City Directory for 1873 (Portland, Me.: Thurston and Co., 1873)

Beckett, S. B., The Portland Reference Book and City Directory for 1875 (Portland, Me.: Thurston and Co., 1875)

Beckett, S. B., The Portland Reference Book and City Directory for 1877 (Portland, Me.: Thurston and Co., 1877)

Beckett, S. B., The Portland Reference Book and City Directory for 1879 (Portland, Me.: Thurston and Co., 1879)

Chamberlain, George Walter, Descendants of Michael Webber of Falmouth, Maine, and of Gloucester, Massachusetts (Wellesley Hills, Mass.: Webber Foundation, 1935)

Colesworthy, D. C., Chronicles of Casco Bay (Portland Me.: Sanborn and Carter, 1850)

Elwell, Edward H., Portland and vicinity: with a sketch of Old Orchard Beach and other Maine resorts (Portland, Me.: Loring, Short & Harmon; Providence, R. I.: J. A. & R. A. Reid, 1881)

Fitch, Elaine Morrison, comp., Portland advertiser & gazette of Maine: marriages, deaths, and news, November 1838-May 1839 (Westminster, Md.: Willow Bend Books, 2004)

Fitch, Elaine Morrison, comp., Portland [Maine] transcript, 1869-1870: news and summary, marriages and deaths (Westminster, Md.: Heritage Books, 2005)

Foster, Angela M., comp., Vital records of Portland, Maine: births, marriages and deaths, 1786-1814 (Rockport, Me.: Picton Press, c2005)

Gerrish, Augustus Franklin, Copy of the original records of the proprietors of Falmouth : for the years 1718 to 1826 (Portland, Me., 1861)

Goold, Nathan, A history of Peaks Island and its people: also a short history of House Island, Portland, Maine (Portland, Me.: Lakeside Press, 1897)

Goold, Nathan, Falmouth Neck in the Revolution (Portland, Me.: Press of the Thurston Print, 1897)

Goold, Nathan, "Falmouth Neck in the Revolution," Collections and Proceedings of the Maine Historical Society, Second Series, Vol. 8 (Portland, Me.: The Society, 1897)

Goold, William, Portland in the past; with historical notes of old Falmouth (Portland, Me., Printed for the author by B. Thurston & company, 1886)

Greenough, W. A., & Co., The Portland Reference Book and City Directory for 1889 (Portland, Me.: Thurston and Co., 1889)

Hill, Thomas, The fiftieth anniversary of the dedication of the meeting house of the First Parish, Portland, Maine, February 8, 1826 (Portland Me.: Stephen Berry, printer, 1876)

Hull, John T., ed., Centennial celebration; an account of the municipal celebration of the one hundreth anniversary of the incorporation of the town of Portland, July 4th, 5th and 6th, 1886 (Portland, Me. : Printed by Owen, Strout & Company, 1886)

Jordan, William B., comp., Burial records, 1717-1962, of the Eastern Cemetery, Portland, Maine (Bowie, Md.: Heritage Books, 1987)

Jordan, William B., comp., Burial records 1811-1980 of the Western Cemetery in Portland, Maine (Bowie, Md.: Heritage Books, c1987)

Jordan, William B., Index to Portland newspapers: 1785-1835 (Bowie, Md.: Heritage Books, 1994)

Ketover, Karen Sherman, comp., Westbrook, Maine cemeteries: plus the surrounding towns of Cumberland, Falmouth, Gorham, Portland & Windham (Bowie, Md.: Heritage Books, c1996)

King, Marquis Fayette, comp., Baptisms and Admission from the Records of First Church in Falmouth, now Portland, Maine (Portland, Me.: Maine Genealogical Society, 1898)

McCann, Kenneth S., The genealogy and history of the Bruns families of Portland, Me. & vicinity & Brons families of the West Coast, 1819-1954 (Glen Burnie, Md., 1954)

McCann, Kenneth S., Genealogy and history of the Portland, Me., Bruns families, including the Brons variation, in Denmark and America, 1739-1956 (Glen Burnie, Md., 1957)

Moulton, Augustus Freedom, Portland by the Sea: an historical treatise (Augusta, Me.: Katahdin Pub. Co., 1926)

Neal, John, Account of the Great Conflagration in Portland (Portland, Me.: Starbird & Twitchell, 1866)

Neal John, Portland llustrated (Portland, Me.: W. S. Jones, 1874)

Perry, William Stevens, A century of episcopacy in Portland: a sketch of the history of the Episcopal Church in Portland, Maine, from the organization of St. Paul's Church, Falmouth, November 4, 1763, to the present time (Portland Me.: unknown, 1863)

Sargent, William M., An historical sketch, guide book, and prospectus of Cushing's Island, Casco Bay, coast of Maine (New York, N. Y.: American Photo-Engraving Co., c1886)

Sawyer, Theodore L., Back Cove To Quaker Lane

Smith, Rev. Thomas, and Rev. Samuel Deane, Journals of the Rev. Thomas Smith, and the Rev. Samuel Deane, pastors of the First Church in Portland: with notes and biographical notices, and a summary history of Portland (Portland Me.: J. S. Bailey, 1849)

Sylvester, Herbert Milton, Ye romance of Casco Bay (Boston, Mass.: Stanhope Press, 1904)

Willis, William, The history of Portland, from 1632 to 1864: with a notice of previous settlements, colonial grants, and changes of government in Maine, 2nd ed. (Portland, Me.: Bailey & Noyes, 1865)

Willis, William, "The history of Portland, from its first settlement," Collections of the Maine Historical Society, First Series, Vol. 1 (Portland, Me.: Bailey & Noyes, 1865)

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