Greater Portland Landmarks is committed to locating and documenting historic resources in Portland and surrounding communities. This documenting—often called survey work—involves a combination of archival research and fieldwork to neighborhoods to determine the history of the buildings, development patterns, and the stories of who lived or worked there. It is a first step in engaging local constituents in preserving their neighborhoods by showcasing why places matter, how they tell our rich shared history, and contribute to our shared sense of place.

For decades Greater Portland Landmarks has been researching properties and neighborhoods in and around Portland. We have a large collection of materials relating to buildings that are still standing and many that have been demolished as well as neighborhood surveys and surveys relating to specific demographic groups. In 2022, we received two grants to fund this research.

• The National Trust for Historic Preservation awarded Greater Portland Landmarks a Telling the Full History grant to identify the historic resources of underrepresented communities in Portland, focusing on Armenian American, Chinese American and African American populations. Working with graduate students and partners we will locate important sites and neighborhoods and develop context statements to share the missing stories of significance that have shaped Portland’s history, landscapes and architecture, allowing us to strengthen partnerships with our diverse neighbors, and use the information gathered to help share these stories through many platforms.

• The Maine Historic Preservation Commission awarded Greater Portland Landmarks a New Century Community Fund Grant to fund research at the Jean Byers Sampson Center for Diversity in Maine at the University of Southern Maine to identify historic properties associated with diverse Mainers. The research aims to identify buildings, sites, structures, districts or objects owned, occupied, or built by LGBTQ+, Jewish, and African American Mainers or associated with events or a pattern of events having significance in their culture or history.

At this time, we are still in the process of digitizing our archives. If you would like to make an appointment to view any of our resources, please contact us at info@portlandlandmarks.org or 207-774-5561. In the meantime, check out our Neighborhood Histories page to see the materials we have created from this research.

And don’t forget that our work could not be possible without your support, so please consider making a donation.