Moulton Street

43°39′23″N 70°15′10″W / 43.656252°N 70.252846°W / 43.656252; -70.252846

Moulton Street
A 2019 view, looking southeast to Commercial Street
Map
NamesakeWilliam H. Moulton
Length0.044 mi (0.071 km)
LocationPortland, Maine, U.S.
Northwest endFore Street
Southeast endCommercial Street

Moulton Street is a historic downtown street in Portland, Maine, United States. Situated in the heart of the Old Port, it runs for around 233 feet (71 m), from Fore Street in the northwest to Commercial Street in the southeast. One-way from Fore Street, its surface is cobblestoned, with brick sidewalks. The street is named for William H. Moulton, president of the Cumberland Bank, which stood at the corner of Moulton and Commercial.[1]

At the corner of Fore and Moulton is a Portland Freedom Trail marker for the anti-slavery bookstore and printshop run by Daniel Colesworthy. The Mariner's Church, built in 1828 in the Greek Revival style, stands at the northern corner of Fore and Moulton. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973.[2] C. H. Robinson,[3] a paper company owned by Charles Henry Robinson (1839–after 1926),[4][5] formerly occupied the entire block, including 9 Moulton Street, which became the home of Mexicali Blues for 28 years.[6] Old Port Tavern occupied part of the Mariner's Church building between 1973 and 2022.[7]

At the head of Moulton Street, 375 Fore Street[8] was the home of Bull Feeney's, which closed in 2023 after 21 years in business.[9]

Long Wharf, the home of DiMillo's Floating Restaurant, stands across Commercial Street from Moulton Street. Wharf Street,[10] meanwhile, runs southwest from Moulton Street to Union Street, crossing Dana Street en route.

Moulton Street has been noted for its boutique stores.[11][12]

  1. ^ The Origins of the Street Names of the City of Portland, Maine as of 1995 – Norm and Althea Green, Portland Public Library (1995)
  2. ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
  3. ^ Maine (1919). Acts and Resolves Passed by the ... Legislature of the State of Maine. Stevens & Sayward. p. 576.
  4. ^ "7-9 Moulton Street, Portland, 1924". Maine Memory Network. Retrieved 2024-03-30.
  5. ^ Hodgkins, Theodore Roosevelt (1926). Brief Biographies, Maine: A Biographical Dictionary of Who's who in Maine. Lewiston journal Company. p. 221.
  6. ^ "Featured Property: 9 Moulton St". Press Herald. 2020-05-05. Retrieved 2024-03-30.
  7. ^ "Portland's Old Port about to lose a 50-year-old mainstay". Press Herald. 2022-12-30. Retrieved 2024-03-21.
  8. ^ "375 Fore Street, 1942". Businesses & Buildings - Portland Press Herald Still Film Negatives. 1942-04-27.
  9. ^ "Portland's Bull Feeney's pub announces closure". newscentermaine.com. 2023-03-22. Retrieved 2024-03-30.
  10. ^ "Flashback: Moulton Street in Portland's Old Port, 1980 and 2015". Press Herald. 2015-07-13. Retrieved 2024-03-30.
  11. ^ "SHOPPER'S WORLD; Treasures of a Maine Port" – The New York Times, October 18, 1992
  12. ^ "What's Doing In; Portland" – The New York Times, July 7, 1991