Maine Policy Institute

The State of Maine Armory (also known as Portland Armory and now as Portland Regency Hotel & Spa) is an historic building in Portland, Maine's Old Port District. The State of Maine Armory was designed by prominent local architect Frederick A. Tompson and built in 1895, on land donated to the city ninety years earlier by Joseph Holt Ingraham, for use by the Maine National Guard. Upon its opening, the then-mayor of Portland, James Phinney Baxter, said: "The possession of quarters in a prominent place, where the men would always be under the public eye, would be the means of improving the morale of the force." In 1941, the National Guard abandoned the building, but it was used to house troops during World War II as well as a recreation center. After the war, the structure was used as a warehouse until it was converted into the current hotel in 1987.The main-floor restaurant is named eighteen95, as a nod to the year the building was completed. Its basement-level lounge, meanwhile, is named The Armory. A whiskey bar, Ironside, was added on the lobby level during renovations in 2020 (Portland Armory supplied the USS Constitution, nicknamed Old Ironsides, with ammunition).The 2020 renovation followed one in 2012 that cost around $2.8 million.The hotel is a member of Historic Hotels of America.

The Thompson Block is a historic commercial building located at 117, 119, 121, 123 and 125 Middle Street in downtown Portland, Maine. It was designed by architect George M. Harding and constructed in 1867. Along with the neighboring Rackleff and Woodman Buildings (also Harding designs), it forms one of the best-preserved period commercial street views in the entire state. The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places on February 28, 1973.

The Samuel Butts House (also known as the Samuel Butts House and Store; formerly known as the Mariner's House) is a historic Colonial-style building in Portland, Maine, United States. Located in Boothby Square, on Fore Street, the building was completed in 1792, when Fore Street was at the shoreline. It is the second-oldest extant building on the Portland peninsula, after the Wadsworth-Longfellow House, which pre-dates it by around six years. It is believed a third storey was added well after the building was completed. Samuel Butts (1760–1838) was a tailor who moved to Portland from Boston in 1784.

The Hollow Reed was a vegetarian restaurant in the Old Port district of Portland, Maine that opened on February 7, 1974, and closed in 1981, and is cited for its influence on the city's notable restaurant culture.

Middle Street is a downtown street in Portland, Maine, United States. Dating to 1724 (although part of it was a path established by ancient settlers), it runs for around 0.46 miles (0.74 km), from an intersection with Union Street, Spring Street and Temple Street in the southwest, to Hancock Street, at the foot of Munjoy Hill, in the northeast. It formerly originated at what was then known as Market Square (today's Monument Square), but 20th-century redevelopment saw the section between Monument Square and Free Street pedestrianized, and the remaining section—around The Maine Lobsterman monument on Temple Street—erased. Near its midsection, Middle Street crosses Franklin Street. In 1756, when Franklin Street was laid out between Middle Street and Back Street (today's Congress Street), it was known as Fiddle Street. In the early 1950s, the newly created Slum Clearance and Redevelopment Authority Vine-Deer-Chatham project demolished Portland's Little Italy, which was bounded by Franklin Street to the east, Fore Street to the south, Pearl Street to the west and Middle Street to the north. The head of Deer Street was opposite the Thompson Block at 117–125 Middle Street. Middle Street, which is named for its position between Congress Street and Fore Street, passes through Portland's Old Port district.

Fore Street is a downtown street in Portland, Maine, United States. It runs for around 1 mile (1.6 km), from the Eastern Promenade on Munjoy Hill in the northeast to Pleasant Street in the southwest. It was the original waterfront of Portland's Old Port, prior to the reclamation of land which resulted in today's Commercial Street in the early 20th century.Near its midsection, Fore Street crosses Franklin Street. It splits briefly at Boothby Square, shortly after passing the United States Custom House at 312 Fore Street.

Mariner's Church (also known as the Old Port Tavern and Mariner's Church Banquet Center) is a historic church and commercial building at 368-374 Fore Street in Portland, Maine. Built in 1828, the Greek Revival building historically served as both a church and marketplace. It was for many years the city's largest commercial building, and survived the city's great 1866 fire. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973. It is now home to the Old Port Tavern and other commercial businesses.

The United States Custom House is a historic custom house at 312 Fore Street in downtown Portland, Maine. It was built from 1867–1872 to house offices of the United States Customs Service, and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973.

Moulton Street is a historic downtown street in Portland, Maine, United States. Situated in the heart of the Old Port, it runs for around 233 feet (71 m), from Fore Street in the northwest to Commercial Street in the southeast. One-way from Fore Street, its surface is cobblestoned, with brick sidewalks. The street is named for William H. Moulton, president of the Cumberland Bank, which stood at the corner of Moulton and Commercial. At the corner of Fore and Moulton is a Portland Freedom Trail marker for the anti-slavery bookstore and printshop run by Daniel Colesworthy. The Mariner's Church, built in 1828 in the Greek Revival style, stands at the northern corner of Fore and Moulton. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973. C. H. Robinson, a paper company owned by Charles Henry Robinson (1839–after 1926), formerly occupied the entire block, including 9 Moulton Street, which became the home of Mexicali Blues for 28 years. Old Port Tavern occupied part of the Mariner's Church building between 1973 and 2022. At the head of Moulton Street, 375 Fore Street was the home of Bull Feeney's, which closed in 2023 after 21 years in business. Long Wharf, the home of DiMillo's Floating Restaurant, stands across Commercial Street from Moulton Street. Wharf Street, meanwhile, runs southwest from Moulton Street to Union Street, crossing Dana Street en route. Moulton Street has been noted for its boutique stores.

The Rackleff Building is an historic commercial building at 127-133 Middle Street in the Old Port commercial district of Portland, Maine. Built in 1867 to a design by architect George M. Harding, it is, along with the adjacent Woodman Building and Thompson Block (both also Harding buildings), part of the finest concentration of mid-19th-century commercial architecture in the city. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places.

The Woodman Building is a historic commercial block located at 133-141 Middle Street in Portland, Maine. It was designed by architect George M. Harding and built in 1867. It is one of the most elaborate and high-style commercial buildings built in the wake of the city's devastating 1866 fire, and is one of Maine's largest Second Empire buildings. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on February 23, 1972.

The Maine Supreme Judicial Court is the highest court in the state of Maine's judicial system. It is composed of seven justices, who are appointed by the Governor and confirmed by the Maine Senate. Between 1820 and 1839, justices served lifetime appointments with a mandatory retirement age of 70. Starting in 1839, justices have been appointed for seven-year terms, with no limit on the number of terms that they may serve nor a mandatory retirement age.Known as the Law Court when sitting as an appellate court, the Supreme Court's other functions include hearing appeals of sentences longer than one year of incarceration, overseeing admission to the bar and the conduct of its members, and promulgating rules for all the state's courts.The Maine Supreme Judicial Court is one of the few state supreme courts in the United States authorized to issue advisory opinions, which it does upon request by the governor or legislature, as set out in the Maine Constitution.It is also unusual for a state's highest appellate court in that its primary location is not that of the state's capital city, Augusta, partially because the Kennebec County Courthouse did not have a courtroom large enough for the Supreme Court's proceedings. The court did meet there from 1830 until 1970, when it permanently moved to the Cumberland County Courthouse. The renovation of the Kennebec County Courthouse in 2015, which included expansion of the bench in its largest courtroom to permit all seven justices to sit there at the same time, has allowed the court to meet there at least twice a year. It will also continue to meet in Portland, Bangor, and at high schools around the state. The new Judicial Center in Biddeford, scheduled to be completed in early 2023, will also contain a courtroom large enough to permit the court to sit there. The MSJC is also authorized to rule on the fitness of the Governor of Maine to serve in office, which it does upon the Maine Secretary of State certifying to the court that the governor is temporarily unable to carry out the duties of that office. The court must then hold a hearing and, if it agrees that the governor is unfit, declare the office of governor temporarily vacant and transfer its duties to the President of the Maine Senate, who would serve as acting governor. If the Secretary of State later certifies to the Supreme Court that the governor is fit to resume office, the court would then decide whether it agrees.