Stroudwater Historic District is a
historic district
A historic district or heritage district is a section of a city which contains older buildings considered valuable for historical or architectural reasons. In some countries or jurisdictions, historic districts receive legal protection from c ...
in the
Stroudwater neighborhood of
Portland, Maine. The district encompasses an important early village in the Portland area, significant as a shipbuilding and mill site established by
Thomas Westbrook
Colonel Thomas Westbrook (1675–1743/44) was a senior New England militia officer in Maine during Father Rale's War. In addition to this senior militia role he was a scout, a colonial councillor, an innkeeper, a mill owner, a land specu ...
in 1727. The district was added to 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 1973.
Description and history
The historic center of the Stroudwater neighborhood of Portland is located on both sides of the
Stroudwater River
The Stroudwater River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed June 30, 2011 river located mostly in Cumberland County, Maine. The river begins as a small stream at Duck Pond ...
, at its mouth where it empties into the
Fore River. The historic district encompasses a roughly triangular area, bounded on the northwest by a line extending along Penrith Road, the northeast by the Fore River, and the south by Garrison Street, although it extends a short way beyond Garrison on Westbrook Street. This area contains a significant concentration of houses built in the late 18th and early 19th centuries houses. It also has one of the city's early cemeteries (the oldest marked burial dating to 1739), and the
Tate House, a
National Historic Landmark
A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places listed ...
house built in 1755 by a
mast
Mast, MAST or MASt may refer to:
Engineering
* Mast (sailing), a vertical spar on a sailing ship
* Flagmast, a pole for flying a flag
* Guyed mast, a structure supported by guy-wires
* Mooring mast, a structure for docking an airship
* Radio mast ...
agent for the king. The area also has a number of mid-19th century houses, a remnant section of the
Cumberland and Oxford Canal
The Cumberland and Oxford Canal was opened in 1832 to connect the largest lakes of southern Maine with the seaport of Portland, Maine. The canal followed the Presumpscot River from Sebago Lake through the towns of Standish, Windham, Gorham, and ...
, and the archaeological remains of its early industrial past.
The Stroudwater area was first settled by Europeans in the 17th century, with a sawmill near the
Stroudwater falls. This settlement was abandoned in the 1680s due to conflict with local Native Americans. In 1727 the area was resettled by Colonel Thomas Westbrook, who was hired as the mast agent for the government of King
George II George II or 2 may refer to:
People
* George II of Antioch (seventh century AD)
* George II of Armenia (late ninth century)
* George II of Abkhazia (916–960)
* Patriarch George II of Alexandria (1021–1051)
* George II of Georgia (1072–1089)
* ...
. He built some of the early roads through the area, in part to facilitate the hauling of masts to a ship landing on the river. He built an early dam and bridge across the river, as well as sawmills and gristmills, in effect establishing an early industrial village. Business flourished in the area until trade was halted by the
Embargo Act of 1807 and the
War of 1812
The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States of America and its indigenous allies against the United Kingdom and its allies in British North America, with limited participation by Spain in Florida. It bega ...
, but saw a revival with the construction of the Cumberland and Oxford Canal. The canal was eventually overtaken in economic importance by railroads, and it was a railroad bridge which cut the area's wharves and shipbuilding facilities from the harbor. It has since become a predominantly residential part of the city.
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See also
* Spring Street Historic District
The Spring Street Historic District encompasses surviving elements of the 19th-century commercial and surviving residential areas of Portland, Maine. Encompassing a portion of the city's Arts District and an eastern portion of its West End, t ...
* Western Promenade Historic District
The Western Promenade Historic District encompasses a large late 19th- and early 20th-century neighborhood in the West End (Portland, Maine), West End of Portland, Maine. This area of architecturally distinctive homes was home to three of the c ...
* National Register of Historic Places listings in Portland, Maine
References
{{National Register of Historic Places
Historic districts in Portland, Maine
Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Maine
National Register of Historic Places in Portland, Maine