Sept. 3, 2014 photo by John Patriquin/Staff Photographer; historic photo courtesy of the Portland Public Library Special Collections & Archives

This photograph of Ocean Street in South Portland’s Legion Square appeared in the August 18, 1945 edition of the Portland Evening Express. According to the accompanying caption, South Portlanders had endured a long summer of construction delays that year thanks to repair work on the Portland-South Portland Bridge as well as the gas line construction shown in this photograph.

The Portland Room of the Portland Public Library is in the process of organizing and conserving the archival collection of original Portland Press Herald, Maine Sunday Telegram and Evening Express photographic negatives — a major collection that spans from 1937 to 2005. Find more photos at www.pressherald.com/flashback/.