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18-458: The Rackleff Building is an historic commercial building at 129–131 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

36-560: 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

54-477: A major role in the rebuilding of the city's commercial district after that blaze. Middle Street 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

72-489: A rounded section at the sharply angled corner with Church Street. The ground floor has a cast iron facade that is essentially the same as that of the Woodman building, but about one foot shorter. Piers of clustered narrow round columns support arches and an entablature. Windows on the upper levels are set in segmented-arch openings, with bracketed lintels and eared hoods that are joined by a stone stringcourse. The windows in

90-459: Is today). The ground floor was the home of Dr. Nathaniel Coffin; the second floor was the "Assembly Room", rented to the Freemasons in 1795 and 1796. The Grand Trunk Smoke Shop formerly stood at 30–36 India Street (with an alternative address of 199–205 Fore Street ). The former home of Elias and Elizabeth Widgery Thomas, at the corner of India and Congress Street, has a granite marker on

108-547: 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

126-695: 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. The following streets intersect with India Street (from north to south): Portland's first masonic hall stood on King Street (where 35 India Street

144-689: 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,

162-502: The center of the Middle Street facade are more ornately decorated, and the building has a cornice with paired brackets, and bands of freestone hexagons and quatrefoils between. The Church Street facade has similar but simpler styling. The building was constructed in 1867, the same year the other two buildings were constructed. All were built in the wake of Portland's 1866 great fire . Harding, who came to Portland in 1858, played

180-463: The corner of Middle Street and Deer Street. Deer Street, now a parking lot, was opposite the Thompson Block, just northeast of Pearl Street. The 240-room, six-story Falmouth Hotel stood at 212 Middle Street between 1868 and 1963, when it was torn down for being a fire hazard. It was replaced by today's Canal Bank Plaza in 1971. Sanitary Meat Market (established in 1914) formerly occupied

198-779: 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

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216-427: 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

234-493: 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 ,

252-455: The southern corner of the Middle Street and India Street intersection. It is now a parking lot. India Street 43°39′39″N 70°15′02″W  /  43.660924°N 70.250623°W  / 43.660924; -70.250623 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

270-540: 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

288-677: Was added to the National Register of Historic Places . The Rackleff Building is located in Portland's Old Port area, on the north side of Middle Street , west of Franklin Street . It is flanked on the left side by the Woodman Building , and is separated on the right from the Thompson Block by Church Street, a narrow side street. The building is three stories in height and roughly a parallelogram in shape, with

306-417: 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

324-479: 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. From northeast to southwest: At the time of his death in 1807, 46-year-old Commodore Edward Preble was living on Middle Street. The Samuel Freeman House, built in the late 18th century, formerly stood on Middle Street. The Second Parish Congregational Church stood at

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