Post by Logan on Jun 26, 2016 5:45:20 GMT -6
John Marshall Brown, an heir to one of the largest fortunes in Maine and one of the so-called “Princes of Portland,” was enjoying a picnic with friends on a sunny July afternoon near the ocean.
Other Portlanders, from prominent authors John Neal and William Willis to firemen Frank Merrill and Alfred Wiggin, were going about their day as the city prepared for a giant celebration, the first Independence Day since the return of soldiers from the Civil War.
A parade was scheduled to wind its way through the dirt and cobblestone streets of the city. A circus was to take place on the Western Promenade. And the largest fireworks display in the state’s history was slated for dusk.
Meanwhile, Hannah Thurlow was inside her home on Fore Street, in what is now the city’s Old Port. At a frail 91 years old, Thurlow was no longer able to get out and stroll the streets of her hometown, a bustling seaport with tree-lined streets, densely packed wood-frame homes and a stately new City Hall.
The date, July 4, 1866, would indeed leave its mark on Portland history. But for far different reasons than anyone imagined.
Read more: specialprojects.pressherald.com/portlands-great-fire/night-portland-burned.html
Related links: specialprojects.pressherald.com/portlands-great-fire/