Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Congress Street #3 Monument Square


As part of my occasional series Congress Street, I've looked thru my image library and picked out a few different uses of Portland's busiest meeting place. Originally called Market Square and home to Portland's 1st city hall, it is used today as a farmers market, a focus of several holidays, a place for public protest or a place to relax over lunch. The picture below is from the book Portland: Then & Now, which I previewed in a post last year.


The first is an 1879 view of Market Square which shows Portland's old market house.  Constructed in 1825 it was modified in 1832 into Portland's first city hall, by Charles Quincy Clapp.  Torn down in 1888 it made room for the Soldiers and Sailors Monument in 1891, in todays Monument Square.




















Protest
Learning
The Wednesday Farmers Market
Parades
Winter Fun
Home to the Yearly Christmas Tree

For those who haven't heard
As anyone who watches TV or reads the Forecaster or Portland Press Herald probably knows Red's Ice Cream in South Portland had a fire late sunday night. If you've stopped by looking for an ice cream at this landmark you've seen the smokey outside, the  sign and the dumpster. The good news is they plan on re-opening, the bad news is it's going to be awhile.

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