- Feb. 6, 1899
- After being incorporated as a city in 1892, Deering is annexed by Portland, swelling the city’s population by 7,500. (Wikipedia; “Creating Portland,” Joseph Conforti.)
- Dozens of tongues
- Students at Deering High School speak more than 50 languages at home, and come from more than 30 countries. (dhs.portlandschools.org.)
- ‘City of Homes’
- The Odd Fellows published this pamphlet on Deering in 1897. (“Deering: A Social and Architectural History,” by William David Barry and Patricia McGraw Anderson.)
- 5th annual, coming up
- Porchfest, which features musicians playing on a number of neighborhood porches, is scheduled for Sunday, Sept. 9, from 1-5 p.m.
- Since 1929
- Roy’s Shoe Shop on Stevens Avenue has been rehabbing shoes.
- Rings, but no ring
- The Gothic-design 1902 Wilde Memorial Chapel in Evergreen Cemetery is available for weddings, but the bell cannot be rung. (portlandmaine.gov.)
- 1937
- Saw the opening of Maine’s first osteopathic hospital, at the corner of Pleasant Avenue and Matthews Street. The 1910 building is now condominiums.
- 29.5 acres
- In 1946, Gov. Percival Baxter presented Portland with Baxter Woods, named for his father, former mayor James Phinney Baxter.
- ‘Crowds of 10,000’
- Presumpscot Park, which was behind today’s Deering High, was a trotting track that opened in 1875 and had a “base-ball grounds in the center.” (“Deering: A Social and Architectural History,” by William David Barry and Patricia McGraw Anderson.)
- Local buzz
- In the spring, The Honey Exchange offers three-pound packages of Russian hybrid queens. This year’s bees have sold out, though. (thehoneyexchange.com.)
- $60 million (est.) man
- Born in Italy, Donald Della Valle opened a tiny “beer parlor” at Woodfords Corner in the early 1930s, the start of the Valle’s Steak House chain. He died a wealthy man in 1977. (“Deering: A Social and Architectural History,” by William David Barry and Patricia McGraw Anderson.)
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