History of the Park

The scenic value of the Western Promenade was recognized early on in Portland’s history, the concept of formal promenades at the eastern and western ends of the Portland peninsula dating back to the 1820-1830s. The two landscapes flanked the then developing core of Portland and provided stunning overlooks of Casco Bay and its islands (Eastern Promenade) and the Fore River and the countryside beyond, including the White Mountains Presidential Range (Western Promenade).

Quotes capture the essence of early park visionaries’ thinking about the Western Promenade:

“Bramhall’s Hill where a delightful Promenade or Park can be made, running along the brow of the hill, from the Arsenal to the new Cemetery, affording a pleasant and picturesque view of the country for miles around, with all the variety of hills and dales, of plains and waters, villages and farmhouse, requisite to romantic scenery and a delightful landscape.” (Eastern Argus, 1836)

“…no city in this country can boast of two such prominent outlooks as our Eastern and Western Promenades, and it is hard to decide which is more beautiful. For a day view, Fort Allen Park, with its ever-changing scenery, is a drawing card to our summer visitors, but a quiet hour late on a pleasant summer afternoon, say about sunset, the Western Promenade has charms only known to only a few of the residents of Portland but is appreciated by the summer tourists, who flock there for the splendid view that they get of the White Mountains, and the gorgeous sunsets, which cannot be rivaled even the blue skies of Italy.” (Auditor’s Report, 1907)

Notable early (1875 – 1905) contributors to the park’s development included William A. Goodwin (City Engineer), John Calvin Stevens (Architect), James Phinney Baxter (Mayor) and the Olmsted Brothers (Landscape Architect).  The Olmsted Brothers, with John C. Olmsted (nephew of Frederick Law Olmsted) as principal, were engaged by Mayor Baxter in 1905 to prepare a design for the Western Promenade.  The plan was noteworthy for the connections it made with other parks in Portland, creating a Portland Parks System modeled after the Emerald Necklace in Boston.  Unlike the Olmsted design for the Eastern Promenade, the Western Promenade was laid out primarily as a ramble with a drive at the summit of the escarpment.  No structural recreational activities were proposed in the design.

Noteworthy early landscape elements in the park include the walkway along the slope break, rock maple and elm tree allees, “fancy evergreen” shrub plantings, the Stevens and Cobb bandstand, lower slope steps with a handrail and a lighted toboggan chute.  A ski jump was built at the Western Promenade for the 1924 Winter Carnival.  The park includes Civilian Conservation Corps project work; stone retaining walls in the lower part of the park, today bordering Valley Street, were built during the 1930s. 

The Western Promenade was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1989, the listing highlighting its distinctive natural landscape features and park status.  This followed the listing of the neighboring Western Promenade Historic District (residential) in 1984.

Impetus from Friends of Western Promenade in 2018, in collaboration with public partners, the City of Portland and the Maine Preservation Commission, led to the development of a Master Plan for the Western Promenade; the park was the remaining National Register of Historic Places park in Portland without one.  The Master Plan for the park was completed in June, 2020.

More information on the history of the Western Promenade can be found in the Landscape History section of the  Master Plan.