2020-2021 Visitor's Guide

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME 2020 Maine’s Bicentennial will be a year that will not be soon forgotten. The 200-year-old state began the year strong, with Maine’s first female governor, Janet T. Mills , taking the helm, which also fell on the 100th anniversary of women’s suffrage, granting women the right to vote. By the state’s official March 15th birthday, Greater Portland, along with most of the world, was in levels of quarantine due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Yet, Mainers came together in other ways: assisting neighbors, supporting local businesses and restaurants, and once again warmly welcoming visitors. And like the city’s symbol of the Phoenix , Portland will once again rise from destruction stronger and more beautiful— because while our history is significant, we all know it’s our future that’s most important.

DOESN’T LOOK ITS AGE 2018 Although the State of Maine just reached its 200th milestone, Greater Portland marked its Tricentennial in 2018. 300 years earlier, on November 12, 1718, “Falmouth on Casco (which included pres- ent-day Portland, South Portland, West- brook, Cape Elizabeth and Falmouth ) in the District of Maine,’ was formally incorporated as part of Massachusetts. The area, previously known as Casco (Aucocisco by the native people) was claimed by the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1658, and renamed in honor of the English Battle of Falmouth. The Portland peninsula separated from Falmouth after the American Revolution in 1786, as did other towns when populations grew and parishes were formed. The native people called the Portland peninsula Machigonne, or “Great Neck.”

CULINARY ARTS 2004

When Chef Sam Hayward traded in his bass guitar for kitchen knives and opened Fore Street restaurant in 1996, the former musician didn’t set out to capture a coveted James Beard Award . His 2004 recognition as the “ Best Chef in the Northeast” not only put Fore Street on In 2009, Bon Appétit named Portland the “Foodiest Small Town in America ,” and crowned it the “Restaurant City of the Year” less than a decade later. the map, but jump-started Greater Portland’s thriving culinary scene.

Capturing several more James Beard Awards over the past 16 years, Greater Portland continues to be one of the world’s leading culinary destinations. (More on p. 31-39) PHOTOS, FROM LEFT: COURTESY CHEBEAGUE ISLAND INN/ DOUG MERRIAM; COREY TEMPLETON (2)

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