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Here's
some Trivia questions about Portland that will challenge you.
Question: What
was located at the end of Commerce Street before the quarries were
expanded? - (submitted by Art Johnson)
Answer:
A graveyard! Little did the early residents of Portland
suspect that the rich deposit of brownstone they quarried eventually
ran beneath their local cemetery! As demand for brownstone increased,
the quarry moved significantly closer to the graveyard, until it
became apparent that they had a serious problem. In order for business
to continue, the graves had to be moved. Most of them were relocated
behind Trinity Church in the far section of the cemetery there,
along Spring Street.
Question: What was the Gildersleeve section of town formerly
known as?
Answer:
White’s District. Joseph and Nathaniel White moved to the area
in the early 1700s. Each had sons who stayed in the area, including
the Honorable Ebenezer White, who’s diary is held by the Connecticut
Historical Society. Sylvester Gildersleeve was still a young man
in the early 1800s, and had yet to make an impact of that section
of town.
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Question: How many Congregational Churches were built in Portland
in the 1850s?
Answer:
Either one or two, depending on how you look at it. Although
two buildings were constructed barely a mile apart from one another,
neither of their respective factions would agree that the other
was a Congregational Church. "Episcopalians of the period were
too busy earning money in the quarries to notice; Methodists were
too disciplined to pay attention to worldly things, and Catholics
were not legally entitled to have an opinion." – (question
submitted by Doris Sherrow)
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Question: Can
you name the First Selectmen of Portland for the second half of
the twentieth century?
Answer:
Joseph Bransfield - first elected 1948
John V Anderson - first elected 1959
John B. Keefe - first elected 1969
Marie T. Larson - first elected, 1975
Robert E. Cleary - first elected 1981
Paul N. Swanson - first elected 1985
Earl N. Johnson - first elected 1987
Wesley Pierini - first elected 1988
Edward L. Kalinowski - first elected 1993
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Question: Where is the location of the mysterious Devil’s
Rock?
Answer:
Just south of Petzold’s Boat Yard on the shore of the river
containing carvings and names and dates of sailors and shipbuilders.
(question submitted by Art Johnson)
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Question: What
body of water in Portland was once known as Waroona Lake,
and what made it so special?
"There
are many picturesque and beautiful spots in Portland, and a curious
pond, formerly called Job's Pond is a point of interest
and wonder. It is about two miles in circumference, forty to sixty
feet deep and has no apparent outlet. It rises and falls as much
as fifteen feet, but not from such causes as affect other ponds.
It is often the highest in the dry season and lowest in the wet
season of the year. When it begins to rise it rises regularly for
six or twelve months, and then falls for about the same period.
This peculiar action is supposed to be due to some very deep springs
which are not affected until a considerable time after rainfall.
This beautiful sheet of water is now known as Waroona Lake."
(Excerpt
from the old Middletown Tribune, 1896, reproduced in Portland
Online on its own web-page.
An interesting read with photos. Check out some of the familiar
names.)
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Question: What
treasure is buried somewhere near the Portland Quarries that will
reunite present day residents of Portland with the past?
Answer:
A time capsule was buried in an location near the Portland Quarries
that will remain undisclosed for the time being. It was buried there
in 1889, and contains "artifacts" that were common to
that time period. Those involved, including members of Brownstone
Quorum, are deciding an appropriate time to open this treasure from
the past.
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Question: Over
the front entrance to the new Town Hall there are three dates posted:
1889, 1913 & 2000. It's easy to figure out that the building
was first built in 1889 as Central School, and was newly renovated
in 2000 as the new Town Hall. Why is the year 1913 significant?
Answer:
In 1913, the building was expanded. The entire rear section
was not part of the original design.
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Question: Why
was Portland indirectly responsible for naming the final years of
the 19th century?
Answer:
After the Civil War, the mood of the nation was very somber.
Many Americans had died during that war - more than all other wars
that Americans have been involved in combined. Wounded soldiers,
many with their limbs amputated, were a common sight. Resentment
was strong. Our national ideals were shaken. Our youth was taken
from us as a people.
The prevalence of Portland brownstone
in big city architecture seemed to reflect this somber mood. Because
of this connection, the last third of the nineteenth century became
known as the Brown Decades!
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Question:
What significant event happened
in 1894, at a local Republican caucus, that caused party leaders
to unanimously yield to the motions of the floor? (Hint:
it resulted in the acquisition of a new Town Hall.)
Answer: "On October 31, 1894, the town's Republican
caucus, some 263 strong, met in the old Town Hall, the former 1790
Episcopal Church on Bartlett Street. Directly after everyone had
voted (some of them twice, according to witnesses), the floor
caved in!
"Some men were trapped upstairs in the
old church's gallery. One of them, William Welch, jumped
out a second story window and broke his leg, later to sue over the
town's alleged negligence. Old Col. Bartlett had warned them
before his death that there was a 16-foot-deep hole under the building,
probably an ancient well, and they felt fortunate that no one had
gone down that hole. Truly the town needed its new town house!"
(Excerpt
from an article by Doris Sherrow, published in the June
2000 issue of Portland On the Move. You can read the entire
article by clicking here.
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