This week, we continue our look at the many meeting houses that South Portland has used over its long history. As we have followed this look into our community’s past, we started with the Purpooduck meeting house on Cottage Road (for which Meeting House Hill was named), which was used by our community from when it first became the District of Cape Elizabeth in 1765.

After that meeting house was torn down, the town used the Friends (Quaker) Meeting House on Sawyer Street from 1835-1837, then built a town house on Ocean Street (near John Parrott’s store) which was used from 1837 until it burned down in January, 1874. In the previous column, we introduced the “new” town house that was then built on the corner of Sawyer and Ocean streets.

After fire had destroyed our old town house on Ocean Street, at a meeting in March, 1874, the town voted to proceed with construction of a new town house. Bids were sought and construction began on the adjacent lot, based on the plans of Portland architect Francis H. Fassett. The 1874 town house was certainly an impressive structure compared to its predecessor.

It was set back about 200 feet from Ocean Street and faced Sawyer Street. The large double doors at the entrance spanned eight feet and opened into a large hall where town meetings were held. The town offices were located along each side of the main entrance.

At that same town meeting in March, 1874, the town also voted to establish its first high school. While classes did start in another location, the town house plans included finishing off two rooms on the second floor to serve as the home of the new Cape Elizabeth High School.

When students first began attending the high school in the town house in the spring of 1875, there were 98 students in attendance with two teachers: D. Winslow Hawkes (who also served as the school principal) and Josephine Gerry.

The 1874 town house is also associated with the founding of the Hiram Lodge of the Freemasons. In September of 1875, several Masons were desirous of establishing a local lodge here in Cape Elizabeth, but they would need space for a hall. These men first met with the selectmen to ask if they would call a special town meeting to discuss the possible use of the attic in the town house.

The selectmen agreed and, at a special meeting in October, the town voted to allow that space to be used for Masonic purposes. With a hall secured, the Hiram Lodge was formed and held its first lodge meeting in the town house in November, 1875.

Throughout these early years, this building was known as the Cape Elizabeth town house or town hall, of course, as our name was the town of Cape Elizabeth back then. When the southern portion of our town broke off and formed the “new” town of Cape Elizabeth in 1895, we changed our name to the town of South Portland as we planned to be annexed to Portland.

The building was now the South Portland town hall and our high school inside changed its name to South Portland High School. The “new” town of Cape Elizabeth, which had not yet established its own high school, sent its students to South Portland High School for many years, with their town paying South Portland for the tuition of its students.

When the plans for annexing with Portland fell through, the town of South Portland voted to take on the city form of government in 1898, and thus our town hall then became our city hall for a short time (although residents still referred to the building as the “town house,” especially with the history of the neighborhood being called Town House Corner).

The Hiram Lodge of Masons, meanwhile, was making plans to move forward with the construction of its own permanent home. Construction began in 1898 on the very impressive Masonic building at Knightville Square (now called Legion Square), based on plans drawn by architect Francis Fassett (the same architect who had designed our 1874 town house).

The design called for the first floor to be divided into large rooms to be leased out for income, while most of the second floor and all of the third floor were for the exclusive use of the lodge. When the Hiram Lodge held its first meeting in the new building in January of 1899, they had already lined up the city of South Portland as their primary tenant.

Starting in 1899, the city of South Portland rented part of both the basement and the first floor of the Masonic building for use as its city offices, and to house the police department. The first floor of the town house at Town House Corner was thus freed up for the high school to expand into.

The post office’s history is also tied to the Masonic building. In 1901, the post office leased part of the basement and one room in the Masonic building to serve as the new South Portland branch (central) post office. Prior to that time, each neighborhood had its own post office where residents would go to pick up their mail. Once the South Portland branch opened in the Masonic building, home delivery of mail began and the neighborhood post offices were discontinued.

The “town house” building at the intersection of Sawyer and Ocean, now used primarily as the home of South Portland High School, burned down in a massive fire in 1921. The fire threatened nearby buildings, but the fire department was able to save both the Heights School next door and a small one-story shack behind the town house that had been used as a polling location during elections.

High school students had to endure cramped conditions for a few years, as they attended classes at the Broadway School (later renamed the Henley School). The school was divided into half days, with the high school students attending classes there in the morning and the elementary school students in the afternoon. This continued for a few years until the new South Portland High School was built and opened in 1924 at the corner of Broadway and Ocean (that building is now home to Mahoney Middle School).

In 1928, the South Portland Police Department moved from the Masonic building to the vacant Trinity Methodist Episcopal Church building at 25 Cottage Road. Just a few years later, in 1931, the city purchased the building and moved most of its offices there, officially establishing it as our new city hall.

Note: If you enjoy reading about South Portland history, please consider a donation to South Portland Historical Society to help support its mission of preserving local history. Donations can be made through our Online Museum website at https://sphistory.pastperfectonline.com, or if you’d prefer to donate by check, please make it payable to South Portland Historical Society and mail to us at 55 Bug Light Park, South Portland, ME 04106. Thank you. If you need to contact the society, we can be reached by email at sphistory04106@gmail.com or by phone at 207-767-7299.

Kathryn Onos DiPhilippo is executive director of the South Portland Historical Society. She can be reached at sphistory04106@gmail.com.

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