St. Peter's Catholic Church (Portland, Maine)

The India Street Historic District is a historic district in Portland, Maine, United States. It is named for the city's first street, India Street, in the downtown area, which has been inhabited since the 17th century.

India Street is a downtown street and neighborhood in Portland, Maine, United States. Situated near the western foot of Munjoy Hill, it runs for around 0.28 miles (0.45 km), from Congress Street in the northwest to Commercial Street and Thames Street in the southeast. It was the city's first street, and the location of the first settlement of European immigrants to the city (then called Falmouth) in the 17th century. There are thirty handmade bricks in the sidewalk commemorating the neighborhood's notable events. In 1680, when Thomas Danforth was Deputy Governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, the street was known as Broad Street. After the incorporation of the Town of Falmouth in 1718, the street was known as High King Street. The neighborhood has been home to Europeans (1600s), African Americans (1700s), and Irish, Jews, Scots, Russians, Swiss and Portuguese (late 1800s). One of Portland's four stations for the Portland and Forest Avenue Railroad Company was located at the foot of India Street, at its intersection with Commercial Street and Thames Street. Known as the Grand Trunk Station, it was built in 1903, when it was one of the two stations in the city, the other being the Union Station, on Saint John Street, which was demolished in 1961. Grand Trunk Station was demolished five years later, having stood for sixty-three years; its clock tower had been taken down in 1948. Its office building remains intact, at the corner of India Street and Thames Street, in use as a Gorham Savings Bank as of 2024. Clay Cove, the home of early shipyards, stood at the foot of India Street in the 19th century. Atlantic Railroad Wharf formerly stood at the foot of India Street. It was demolished in the early 20th century, when Maine State Pier was constructed. After Portland's great fire of 1866, a fire house was built at 97 India Street. In the early 1950s, the newly created Slum Clearance and Redevelopment Authority highlighted Bayside and East Bayside as target neighborhoods due to its high number of immigrants and the decaying buildings caused by redlining. Residents of these neighborhoods resisted the discriminatory campaign. In 1958, the Authority demolished the Little Italy neighborhood, which spanned from the India Street neighborhood to the East Bayside neighborhood, razing 92 dwellings and 27 small businesses. Another 54 dwelling units were razed for the Bayside Park urban renewal project, an area that now includes Fox Field and Kennedy Park public housing. The first phase of the Kennedy Park was built in 1965. Several streets were truncated in an attempt to limit access to outside traffic. The razing of Franklin Street began in 1967; 130 homes and businesses were demolished and an unknown number of families relocated or were displaced. The India Street Historic District was designated by Portland City Council in 2015 after a unanimous (8–0) vote. As a result, maximum building heights of 50 feet (15 m) were introduced on India Street, as well as parts of Commercial Street, Middle Street and Congress Street. The following year, the Historic Preservation and Planning Board recommended that the boundaries of the India Street Historic District be expanded to include 96 and 100 Federal Street as contributing buildings. Portland City Council passed the motion in June. Etz Chaim Synagogue sits across from the head of India Street, at 267 Congress Street.

Etz Chaim Synagogue is a synagogue in Portland, Maine. Located at 267 Congress Street, it is the only immigrant-era European-style synagogue remaining in Maine. It was founded in 1921 as an English-language synagogue, rather than a traditional Yiddish-language one. Gary S. Berenson presides as Rabbi of the congregation.The building also houses the Maine Jewish Museum.

The North School is an historic former school at 248 Congress Street in Portland, Maine. Built in 1867, it was the first primary school in the state to separate students by grade, and was the largest primary school in the state when built. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982. It was converted into subsidized housing for seniors by the City of Portland.

The Joseph Barbour House is a historic building in Portland, Maine, United States. Standing at 123–125 Newbury Street, in the India Street Historic District, the building was completed in 1846. Designed in the Federal style, the building survived Portland's fire of 1866 and is now recognized as being architecturally significant. Joseph Barbour fought in the American Revolutionary War and the War of 1812. He died in 1854, aged 78. He was interred in Portland's Eastern Cemetery.

St. Paul's Church and Rectory is an historic Episcopal church at 279 Congress Street in Portland, Maine. Built in 1868 for a newly established congregation, it is a fine local example of Gothic Revival architecture, designed by English architect George Browne Pelham. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978. The present pastor is Rev. Samuel L. Logan.

Eastern Cemetery is a historic cemetery at the intersection of Washington Avenue and Congress Street in the Munjoy Hill neighborhood of Portland, Maine. Established in 1668, it is the city's oldest historic site. It has more than 4,000 marked graves with an estimated further 3,000 burials in unmarked plots. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973.The cemetery is owned by the city of Portland. The volunteer nonprofit group Spirits Alive, founded in 2006, is dedicated to the protection and preservation of the cemetery through conservation and education. Spirits Alive offers daily walking tours from June through mid-October.

Federal Street is a historic downtown street in Portland, Maine, United States. It runs for around 0.56 miles (0.90 km), from Monument Square, in the southwest to Mountfort Street, at the foot of Munjoy Hill, in the northeast. Its middle section was wiped out by the widening of Franklin Street in 1967. It forms the southern boundaries of both Lincoln Park (established in 1866) and Eastern Cemetery (1668). Both are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Upon its completion in 2023, The Casco, at 201 Federal Street, became the tallest residential building in Maine, at 204.5 feet (62.3 m), surpassing Franklin Towers. It is the third-tallest building in the state overall, behind the Agora Grand Event Center in Lewiston.

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.

Cathedral School was a private, Roman Catholic school in Portland, Maine. Cathedral School was founded by Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur in 1864. The school offered classes from kindergarten to 8th grade. It was the "mother school" of Maine's parochial school system. Shortly after temporarily housing what was formerly known as West School from 2012-2013, the building became home to Portland Adult Education, an adult education program committed to helping adults take the HiSET test, a GED equivalent, and, in certain circumstances, earn a high school diploma.

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.

The Cumberland County Courthouse is a courthouse building located in Portland, Maine, United States. Its main façade is on Federal Street, on the eastern side of Lincoln Park, and across Pearl Street from the Edward T. Gignoux United States Courthouse; its entrance is now at the rear of the property, at 205 Newbury Street. Designed by local architect George Burnham, in partnership with Boston architect Guy Lowell, it was completed in 1910 and constructed in granite. The courts were formerly located in Portland City Hall, prior to its burning down in 1908.An addition to the rear of the building, completed in 1991, was dedicated in honor of Vincent L. McKusick, chief justice of the Maine Supreme Judicial Court between 1977 and 1992.