The pictures that accompany Portland's 1924 tax assessment records offer a snapshot at a specific point in city's history and are being put online after an extensive restoration and digitization process.
"It's really unique that Portland has this glimpse at one moment in its history," said Scott Hanson, an architectural historian with Sutherland Conservation and Consulting.
Hanson and Kathy Amoroso, the historical society's director of digital project, discussed the records and the information they documented Tuesday during a presentation at the Maine Historical Society. The new collection was restored and preserved through a partnership with the City of Portland and the Maine Historical society to give people access to the historic documents that recorded a snapshot of the city's history.
"We've got these little glimpses of the city in 1924," he said.
Hanson said each photo not only documents the buildings but automobiles, window displays and snapshots of everyday life in Portland during 1924.
As an example, Hanson showed the card for 125- 127 Leland Street in Deering Center and the building had just been completed in 1924, with the picture showing the piles on construction debris on the property. He said the tax records captured a little piece on Leland Street's history.
Aside from having records on buildings that are still around today, Hanson said the tax records document many places that no longer exist.
Hanson pulled up a photo of 137-139 Franklin Street, which was demolished to make way for the arterial. He said the Franklin Street neighborhood looked much like many of Portland's other districts, but now is nothing more than a memory.
"A number of Portland Street exist today only on maps and in these photographs," he said.
Hanson said the records document many types of buildings that no longer exist, like railroad gate-tender shanties.
"It's an example of a building type that virtually disappeared," he said.
The railroads were a key part in the development of Portland, Hanson said, and very little evidence of the industry is left in the city. The same goes for the coal docks, warehouses and industrial sites along Commercial Street, but the 1924 tax records documented those parts of Portland's development.
"It's really remarkable what is in this collection," he said.
The records were created in 1924 during a city-wide tax reevaluation, said Hanson, after Portland significantly modified its form of government through a 1923 charter change and the whole city needed to be reassessed. He said the collection includes nearly every piece of taxable property in Portland but doesn't have any records on non-taxable land like municipal and school buildings or churches and non-profits.
"We have everything but those categories," he said.
Aside from a photograph of the property, each record lists the building's age, owner, condition, architectural style and even materials used during construction.
The records did nothing more but collect dust in the assessor's office, said Hanson, unless someone went in looking for a document. He said they've garnered more interest in the recent decades since historic preservation has grown in popularity.
With the interest in the documents grew, Hanson said, the condition of the records began to deteriorate and little by little the pages started to fall apart.
Hanson said he was working with Deb Andrews in the city's historic preservation office at the time and they started to look at a way to preserve the 1924 tax records. He said the city connected with the Maine Historical Society and the Maine Memory Network to provide a place to have the documents accessible to the public.
The city got a grant for some equipment, Hanson said, and began working with the library to help preserve the documents and provide a permanent home for the collection.
To date, about 65 of the 130 books have been digitized and uploaded to the Maine Memory Network.
Amoroso said the records that have been processes are online and in a searchable database. She said they can be sorted by address, owner, neighborhood, building type, architectural style and a variety of other categories.
Since there's work still left to be completed, Hanson said the project is close to stalling for a lack of funding. He said there have been several generous donors who aided the project in its early years, but that's started to run out.
"We are really struggling at this point to keep the project moving forward," he said.
"It's really unique that Portland has this glimpse at one moment in its history," said Scott Hanson, an architectural historian with Sutherland Conservation and Consulting.
Hanson and Kathy Amoroso, the historical society's director of digital project, discussed the records and the information they documented Tuesday during a presentation at the Maine Historical Society. The new collection was restored and preserved through a partnership with the City of Portland and the Maine Historical society to give people access to the historic documents that recorded a snapshot of the city's history.
"We've got these little glimpses of the city in 1924," he said.
Hanson said each photo not only documents the buildings but automobiles, window displays and snapshots of everyday life in Portland during 1924.
As an example, Hanson showed the card for 125- 127 Leland Street in Deering Center and the building had just been completed in 1924, with the picture showing the piles on construction debris on the property. He said the tax records captured a little piece on Leland Street's history.
Aside from having records on buildings that are still around today, Hanson said the tax records document many places that no longer exist.
Hanson pulled up a photo of 137-139 Franklin Street, which was demolished to make way for the arterial. He said the Franklin Street neighborhood looked much like many of Portland's other districts, but now is nothing more than a memory.
"A number of Portland Street exist today only on maps and in these photographs," he said.
Hanson said the records document many types of buildings that no longer exist, like railroad gate-tender shanties.
"It's an example of a building type that virtually disappeared," he said.
The railroads were a key part in the development of Portland, Hanson said, and very little evidence of the industry is left in the city. The same goes for the coal docks, warehouses and industrial sites along Commercial Street, but the 1924 tax records documented those parts of Portland's development.
"It's really remarkable what is in this collection," he said.
The records were created in 1924 during a city-wide tax reevaluation, said Hanson, after Portland significantly modified its form of government through a 1923 charter change and the whole city needed to be reassessed. He said the collection includes nearly every piece of taxable property in Portland but doesn't have any records on non-taxable land like municipal and school buildings or churches and non-profits.
"We have everything but those categories," he said.
Aside from a photograph of the property, each record lists the building's age, owner, condition, architectural style and even materials used during construction.
The records did nothing more but collect dust in the assessor's office, said Hanson, unless someone went in looking for a document. He said they've garnered more interest in the recent decades since historic preservation has grown in popularity.
With the interest in the documents grew, Hanson said, the condition of the records began to deteriorate and little by little the pages started to fall apart.
Hanson said he was working with Deb Andrews in the city's historic preservation office at the time and they started to look at a way to preserve the 1924 tax records. He said the city connected with the Maine Historical Society and the Maine Memory Network to provide a place to have the documents accessible to the public.
The city got a grant for some equipment, Hanson said, and began working with the library to help preserve the documents and provide a permanent home for the collection.
To date, about 65 of the 130 books have been digitized and uploaded to the Maine Memory Network.
Amoroso said the records that have been processes are online and in a searchable database. She said they can be sorted by address, owner, neighborhood, building type, architectural style and a variety of other categories.
Since there's work still left to be completed, Hanson said the project is close to stalling for a lack of funding. He said there have been several generous donors who aided the project in its early years, but that's started to run out.
"We are really struggling at this point to keep the project moving forward," he said.