National Register of Historic Places

Griffin House

Portland, Cumberland County, Maine
Listed
July 18, 1984
Type
Building
Period
Industrial
Ref No.
84001360

About this property

The Griffin House is a historic house at 200 High Street in Portland, Maine. Built in 1871, it is one of the city's finer examples of Second Empire architecture, and was an early example of the trend to build further away from the city's port district. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984. The Griffin House is located in a residential area just north of Portland's downtown area, at the northwest corner of High Street and Cumberland Avenue. It is a large 2+1⁄2-story wood-frame structure, with a mansard roof providing a full third floor, clapboard siding, and a brick foundation. The roof eave is modillioned, and the dormers projecting from it have segmented-arch tops and decorative surrounds. The main facade faces east, and is three bays wide. A side-facing stair leads up to the central entrance, which is sheltered by a porch supported by a bracketed square posts. Windows on the first floor are topped by a segmented arches with ears and brackets, while those on the second floor have eared gables. The building corners sport paneled pilasters. The house was built in 1871 for Charles S.D. Griffin, an executive of the Portland Gas Company. It was built in the wake of the city's devastating 1866 fire, which destroyed a large portion of its waterfront. At the time of its construction, the area to the north was largely undeveloped. The house remained in the Griffin family until 1936, although it was divided into a two-family in 1876. It underwent a careful restoration in the 1980s. National Register of Historic Places listings in Portland, Maine

Location

200 High St.
Portland, Cumberland County, Maine
43.65581, -70.26588

Categories

ARCHITECTURE
National Register nomination ›
Sources

Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).

Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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Nearby Historic Sites

Deering Street Historic District
Listed
0.1 mi
Reed, Thomas Brackett, House
Industrial
0.1 mi
US Post Office-Portland Main
Industrial
0.2 mi
Clapp, Charles Q., Block
Industrial
0.2 mi
Longfellow, Henry Wadsworth, Monument
Listed
0.2 mi

Nearby Battles

Raid on Falmouth (Casco, Maine) 1690
1690Colonial
0.5 mi

Questions about this property

When was Griffin House listed on the National Register?

Griffin House was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on July 18, 1984.

What type of historic resource is Griffin House?

Griffin House is classified as a building in the National Register of Historic Places.

What is the period of significance for Griffin House?

The period of significance for Griffin House is recorded as the industrial era.

Can I research the history near Griffin House?

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