The Belfast Commercial Historic District encompasses two blocks of the central business district of

Belfast, Maine Belfast is a city in Waldo County, Maine, Waldo County, Maine, in the United States. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the city population was 6,938. Located at the mouth of the Passagassawakeag River estuary on Belfast Bay (Main ...

. This area includes the best-preserved and most architecturally interesting commercial buildings of the city's mid-to-late 19th century development, when it was the leading port on

Penobscot Bay Penobscot Bay (french: Baie de Penobscot) is an inlet of the Gulf of Maine and Atlantic Ocean in south central Maine. The bay originates from the mouth of Maine's Penobscot River, downriver from Belfast, Maine, Belfast. Penobscot Bay has many ...

. It extends along Main Street from the major intersection and Church Street north to Washington Street. It was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

in 1980, and is entirely contained within the larger

Belfast Historic District The Belfast Historic District encompasses a large portion of the city center of Belfast, Maine, representing one of Maine's largest concentrations of pre-Civil War architecture, as well as a rich collection of commercial architecture of the late ...

Description and history

The city of Belfast is located at the head of Belfast Bay on the west side of Penobscot Bay, where the Passagassawakeag River empties into the bay. Incorporated as a city in 1853, it was by then a major shipbuilding and shipping center. In the second half of the 19th century it was served by steamship service to other ports, and was connected by railroad to

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

and

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: * Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States * Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...

. The city has also been the county seat of Waldo County since its founding in 1827. The city's downtown is organized as a series of roads paralleling the southern bank of the river, which is oriented roughly northwest to southeast. Main Street initial runs perpendicular to those roads, running southwest to a five-road interchange at Church and Beaver Streets, where it bends west. The two blocks north of this latter intersection are contained within the historic district, which includes 47 buildings on those two blocks and immediately adjacent side streets. Most of these buildings were built after fires that affected the entire downtown area in 1865 and 1873, although some older buildings have survived. Notable early buildings include the Waldo County Courthouse (1853) and City Block (1850), both designed by Bangor architect

Benjamin S. Deane Benjamin S. Deane (1790–1867) was an American master builder and architect in practice in Bangor, Maine from circa 1832 to 1867.Deborah Thompson, ''Bangor, Maine, 1769-1914: An Architectural History'' (Orono: University of Maine Press, 1988) ...

, and the 1855 Customhouse and Post Office, designed by

Ammi B. Young Ammi Burnham Young (June 19, 1798 – March 14, 1874) was a 19th-century American architect whose commissions transitioned from the Greek Revival to the Neo-Renaissance styles. His design of the second Vermont State House brought him fame and su ...

. Notable later buildings include the

Masonic Temple A Masonic Temple or Masonic Hall is, within Freemasonry, the room or edifice where a Masonic Lodge meets. Masonic Temple may also refer to an abstract spiritual goal and the conceptual ritualistic space of a meeting. Development and history In ...

, which occupies a prominent position on the Church Street intersection, and the

Belfast National Bank The Belfast National Bank is a historic commercial building at Main and Beaver Streets in downtown Belfast, Maine. Built in 1879 and enlarged twelve years later, it is one of the city's most elaborately decorated buildings. It was designed by Geor ...

, both built in the late 1870s to designs by

George M. Harding George Milford Harding (1827–1910) was an American architect who practiced in nineteenth-century Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Maine. Life and career Harding was born in 1827 in Chatham, Massachusetts. At the age of 17 he began his st ...

of Portland.

References

{{National Register of Historic Places Greek Revival architecture in Maine Italianate architecture in Maine Buildings and structures in Belfast, Maine Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Maine National Register of Historic Places in Waldo County, Maine

Description and history

See also

References