Did you know that Bayside earned its name quite literally? As late as 1823, much of the area that is now Bayside was part of Back Cove, then a larger bay, with Cumberland Street the only east-west thoroughfare between Congress Street and the cove. Streets like Preble, Elm, and Chestnut dead-ended at the water, which nearly reached Cumberland Street in places and was deep enough to accommodate large vessels at one point.
Railway buildings from the 1876 Bird’s Eye View Portland Maine Map
By 1826, infilling began in earnest to accommodate the Kennebec and Portland Railroad’s depot, and Oxford Street emerged atop this newly created land. The 1840s brought more land from gradual infill to increase the size of the railroad yards, though it wasn’t yet a through station. The 1850s saw the creation of what we now know as Lancaster Street (originally called Lincoln Street) positioned in front of the depot, and Kennebec Street behind it, closer to the cove. This phased expansion of the peninsula coincided with increasing railroad traffic, both passenger and freight.
By the 1870s, maps show North Bayside’s first residential buildings around the railway depot, on the block between Elm and Chestnut. Since the railroad remained the main business nearby, these were likely inhabited by railway workers and managers. In the decades that followed, the neighborhood saw a variety of dwellings homes crop up in this area like duplexes, single family homes, and tenements. Along with housing, industry in the area grew, including a lumber mill and a pickle factory.
By the 1950s, Portland’s urban transformation began reshaping Bayside, and the neighborhood was split by the creation of Franklin Street. Heavy industry, like the lumber mill, faded out and in its place rose lighter manufacturing activity. Many homes were cleared to make room for businesses like Cushman’s bakery complex and related structures (between Cedar and Elm) and H.J. Heinz Wholesale Food Company (on the Chestnut-to-Cedar block).
Today, it’s likely that some of the early industrial structures still stand at the core of the current buildings, and that 20th century siding conceals 19th century building fabric. You can still discern the past in the rear façade of the back of 165-175 Lancaster Street (the Cushman and Heinz buildings), which still has loading docks and bump-outs, relics of manufacturing processes that outlasted more homogenized fronts. Even though the railway depot is long gone, tracks still poke through the asphalt on Kennebec Street. Through its entire history, Bayside has been continuously reinvented, yet it has always remained rooted in its unpretentious, working-class character.