BACK THEN

The Great Portland Fire

by Jack Oldham

During the 4th of July celebrations of 1866 a fire started in a boatyard on Commercial St. It’s believed a boy threw a firecracker, or an adult a cigar ash that landed in shavings and wood in the yard. The fire spread to a boat house, then to neighboring lumber yard, and to a sugar house. The fire went through the building and wind blown sparks started fires in nearby buildings and stores.

After draining the city’s reservoirs and wells, then pumping water from the harbor, the fire was still spreading. It burned throughout the night gaining momentum. Before it was brought under control the area from Commercial and Maple Streets east up to Back Cove and Munjoy Hill was blackened. The 2,000 Buildings that burned left 10,000 of the city’s 13,000 residents homeless, but only 2 people died.

There were 200 acres of the city leveled. It was rebuilt in brick. The symbol for the city of Portland is the Phoenix, and it’s motto is “I shall rise again.” But the fire of 1866 was not the only possible precedent for the choice of these. Established in 1632 as Casco the name was changed to Falmouth in 1658 and in 1675 it was burned by Indians in King Phillips War.

After an Indian raid in 1690, the town was burned and the Maine wilderness north of Wells was abandoned. In 1703 a French and Indian expedition destroyed Falmouth again. Falmouth was resettled a few decades later and became the leading colonial port for mast timber.

In 1775 the British warship Canceaux was in Falmouth harbor overseeing the unloading of disputed cargo. Acts of resistance against revenue policy were common in Portland. Captain Mowatt of the Canceaux was walking in the woods of Falmouth when a group who objected the Canceaux being there, captured Mowatt and held at a local tavern. His captors were convinced by other residents to free Mowatt.

Four months after leaving Falmouth, Mowatt returned with a squadron of five ships and orders to bombard the city. The Canceaux of sixteen guns, the ship Cat of twenty guns, a schooner of twelve guns, a bomb sloop and a schooner loaded with supplies. On October 16 the ships kedged their way up the harbor and formed a line out of range from shore. The armed vessels anchored off what is now India Street to a position off Union wharf.

The 8-hour bombardment burned 75% of the city. Much of what burned would burn again in the 1866 fire. The city was rebuilt and renamed Portland in 1786. Things went pretty well until that firecracker on the 4th in 1866.