Built in 1865: The One True Ghost Date

Spend enough time poking through Portland property records, Zillow listings, tax cards, old plaques screwed into ornate wooden porches and a pattern starts to show.

The deeper you dig, the more one date repeats itself: 1865.

That ornate Gothic House at 387 Spring Street with its steep gables, pointed arches and intricate gingerbread trim? The city files peg its birth year at 1865.

Then there’s the Charles Q. Clapp Block on High Street, its Federal‑style façade framed by Ionic columns rescued from an old church. Also 1865.

And down on the waterfront, the U.S. Custom House at 312 Fore Street, a French Renaissance beauty that still holds court by the harbor. You guessed it, 1865.

They weren’t all built then. But the city records say they were.

The Year the Records Burned

When Portland caught fire on July 4, 1866, it didn’t just destroy 1,800 buildings. It took the brand new City Hall too ( and its memories ) with it. Deeds, permits, tax ledgers. All gone in a single night.

So when it came time to rebuild and refile, someone made a decision:
If a building was still standing and no one knew exactly when it was built, they just wrote down 1865.

It wasn’t deceit, it was a band‑aid for a city with no records.

Piecing Together the Past

I notice this pattern every day when I’m digging through property cards for clients. You open one looking for solid data and discover a city scrambling to remember.

What I love most is that these buildings endure. Weathering every season, bathing in afternoon light, quietly full of beautiful contradictions.

The Next Time You Walk By

The next time you pass a building on Pine or Spring or any old street, pause and look up. The year on the card might be off. The building isn’t. Its survival, that’s the real story of Portland.

A Blog That Is Local Gold

If you’re not already reading Portland House Stories, you should be.
It’s one of the best blogs in town. Sharp, well-researched, and full of stuff I didn’t know about buildings I walk by every day. One of the most valuable things happening in Portland right now.

This piece was definitely sparked by their work.
Go fall down the rabbit hole.

Portland House Stories

Been getting a lot of “Where do I go for antiques?” messages lately, so I cleaned up the guide, and dropped some extra bonus spots in a new Google Maps list.

From barns in Arundel to mid-century gems in Portland, it’s all in there. Go dig in.

The Ultimate Antiquing Road Trip

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