Maine Places to Love: Munjoy Hill

What’s to love? Here’s a short list. Fine restaurants, distinctive architecture. Walkable streets, bikeable trails. Waterfront July 4th fireworks, and first-rate theater. Splendid views far out over Casco Bay and its islands, the shipping channel, the cityscape and the Fore River. The waterfront Eastern Promenade Trail, and the Eastern Promenade, a 68-acre park designed by the Olmsted Brothers.

Namesake: George Munjoy (ancestral name Mountjoy) moved his family here from the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1659.
Highlight: “There is no point in Maine where the view of sea or land is more delightful.” (John Neal, in 1874, on the 360-degree views from the 86-foot Portland Observatory.)
You can swim here …: Off the East End Beach, or to it, in the 2.4-mile Peaks (island) to Portland Swim. This year, it’s scheduled for Saturday, July 28.
1979: Year the Munjoy Hill Neighborhood Association was founded. (www.munjoyhill.org)
Timber!: The octagonal Observatory’s “skeleton” – eight 65-foot white pine timbers costing $12 apiece – were cut in Windham and floated down the Presumpscot River to Casco Bay. (mainememory.net; keepmecurrent.com)
Small & local: Businesses such as Rosemont Market and Bakery, Donatelli’s Custom Tailor Shop, Hilltop Coffee Shop and restaurants such as the Blue Spoon, Lolita, and the Front Room help keep the Hill vibrant.
7.5: percent of Portland’s population lives on the Hill. The number was 4,972 residents in 2013, of the city’s total of 66,227 people. (U.S. Census data.)
Fur ’n’ ancestry: Munjoy Hill’s most popular dog breeds are golden retriever, labrador retriever and Jack Russell. The Tibetan terrier is identified as the most unusual.
By degrees: Munjoy Hill has the city’s highest percentage of college graduates. About two-thirds of its residents have bachelor’s degrees.
1897: Year the stone St. Lawrence Church was built. Handsome and historic, it’s now the St. Lawrence Arts Center (www.stlawrencearts.org).

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