The Blog

Portland, Maine is home to many historic buildings. One such building is located at 465 Congress Street. Built as the Fidelity Trust Company building in 1910, this 10-story, 155-foot-tall building is Portland’s first skyscraper-and the tallest building in Maine at the time. It was created in the Gothic Beaux-Arts style by G. Henri Desmond of Boston.(1) It was equipped with three Portland Company elevators, two of which were electric. The freight elevator was a hydraulic, or “plunger,” elevator. (2)

An original image of the building can be found here on the Maine Memory Network website.

(1) Portland Press Herald article, “Portland landlord with a past buys building with a history”. August 30, 2013. Article link. (2) Maine Memory Network archives. Link here.