Widgery Wharf (also Widgery's Wharf) is a historic

wharf A wharf, quay (, also ), staith, or staithe is a structure on the shore of a harbour or on the bank of a river or canal where ships may dock to load and unload cargo or passengers. Such a structure includes one or more berths (mooring locatio ...

Portland, Maine Portland is the largest city in the U.S. state of Maine and the seat of Cumberland County. Portland's population was 68,408 in April 2020. The Greater Portland metropolitan area is home to over half a million people, the 104th-largest metropol ...

. Built in the late 1700s, across Commercial Street from the now-demolished Plum Street, the wharf is named for the Widgery family which controlled the local

molasses Molasses () is a viscous substance resulting from refining sugarcane or sugar beets into sugar. Molasses varies in the amount of sugar, method of extraction and age of the plant. Sugarcane molasses is primarily used to sweeten and flavour foods ...

trade at the time of completion. Members of the Widgery family include Congressman

William Widgery William Widgery (July 31, 1822) was a U.S. Representative from Massachusetts. Born in Devonshire, England, in the Kingdom of Great Britain, Widgery immigrated to America with his parents, who settled in Philadelphia. He attended the common schoo ...

. The precise date of the wharf's building is unknown, with possible years including 1760, 1774 and 1777. As of the 2000s, much of the wharf was covered during the laying of Commercial Street in the 1850s. Despite this, it is one of the oldest standing structures in Portland. Adjacent Union Wharf was completed in 1793, and today shares the same parking area as Widgery Wharf.

References

Transport infrastructure completed in the 18th century Wharves in the United States Industrial buildings and structures in Portland, Maine Port of Portland (Maine) {{Maine-struct-stub