The Rankin Block is a historic commercial building at 600–610 Main Street in
Rockland, Maine
Rockland is a city in and the county seat of Knox County, Maine, United States. As of the United States Census, 2020, 2020 census, the town population was 6,936. The city is a popular tourist destination. It is a departure point for the Maine S ...
. Built in 1853, it is a fine example of a late Greek Revival commercial block. It was listed on the
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...
in 1978.
It currently houses a senior living facility.
Description and history
The Rankin Block is located on the northern edge of Rockland's central downtown area, at the northwest corner of Main and Rankin Streets (both signed
United States Route 1
U.S. Route 1 or U.S. Highway 1 (US 1) is a major north–south United States Numbered Highway that serves the East Coast of the United States. It runs from Key West, Florida, north to Fort Kent, Maine, at the Canadian border, ma ...
). The original portion of the building is a three-story masonry structure, built out of brick with granite trim. It has a gabled roof, which is pierced by four irregularly spaced gabled dormers. The ground floor has four retail storefronts, articulated by granite piers and topped by a granite stringcourse, with two building entrances set symmetrically outside the center two storefronts. Windows on the upper levels are sash, set in rectangular openings with granite lintels and sills. There is a modest brickwork cornice, laid to resemble dentil moulding, below the roofline.
The block was built in 1853 by Samuel Rankin, a descendant of one of the area's first European settlers. Its location was near the center of the city's shipbuilding industries, and replaced an earlier commercial building destroyed by fire. Its early tenants included a ship chandlery, shipping offices, and a
sail loft
A loft is a building's upper storey or elevated area in a room directly under the roof (American usage), or just an attic: a storage space under the roof usually accessed by a ladder (primarily British usage). A loft apartment refers to large ...
on the top floor.
[ The building has been converted for residential use.
]
See also
* National Register of Historic Places listings in Knox County, Maine
References
{{National Register of Historic Places
Commercial buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Maine
National Register of Historic Places in Knox County, Maine
Greek Revival architecture in Maine
Buildings and structures completed in 1853
Buildings and structures in Rockland, Maine