I’m Jake Newman. The Portland Logbook is my love letter to this city: the food worth hunting down, the history that refuses to die, the corners you only find if you’re paying attention.

The Time & Temp Sign Is Back!

I didn’t realize how bad the Time & Temp sign had gotten until I was on the second floor at Planet Fitness, looking out the window. I kept staring at it, thinking my eyes were off, like I needed my glasses, because it didn’t even look like numbers anymore. It just looked like a blob of random lights.

Later, I got off the highway and saw it again, this time with my glasses on. That’s when I realized it wasn’t me. The sign was actually messed up. A ton of the bulbs were out, and it was just making these weird symbols instead of anything you could read.

Normally, you don’t even think about it. You glance up, and it’s doing its thing. Time, temperature, “Call Joe.” Clear, simple, always working.

Until it stopped.

Most people don’t realize the Time & Temp sign has only been up there since 1964. The building is older than that. It opened in 1924 as the Chapman Building, but the sign is what most of us know it by now.

It also almost didn’t make it.

Maine banned billboards in 1977, and the law took effect the next year. That’s why you can drive from Portland to Bangor and barely see a real billboard. Then, in 1991, the Time & Temp sign needed a special exemption from the state because flashing messages visible from highways were not allowed. Advertising became the way to help pay for keeping it on.

So “Call Joe” isn’t just some random Portland thing. It’s part of why the sign is still there.

Now it’s back. Fully lit, actually readable, and I’m proud to see it shining!

More Info on the Time and Temp Building

The Sea Lamprey

I didn’t know what I was looking at at first.

I was standing by the Presumpscot River and thought it was just a stick moving with the current upstream. Took me a second to realize it was alive, but I had no idea what I was looking at until I got home and looked it up.

It was a sea lamprey.

If you’ve never seen one, it’s something out of a nightmare, and it’s a little unsettling. Long, dark, kind of eel-like, but the mouth is what really gets you. Just a round suction cup with rows and rows of teeth. No jaw.

Late April into May, they start coming back up rivers like this. They spend most of their lives in the ocean, then return to freshwater to spawn. Kind of like salmon, just way less talked about and way less appealing. After they spawn, that’s it. They die in the river.

They’ve been doing this longer than almost anything else around here. Hundreds of millions of years. Before Portland, before the river looked the way it does now, before pretty much everything. They were already here, moving upstream like living sticks.

In a few weeks, once the water warms up a bit more, you’ll see more of them, especially in the shallow sections where the current picks up.

I’ve walked that river a bunch of times and never noticed them.

Now I know they’re there.

Learn More about the Sea Lamprey

THIS WEEKS CONDITIONS
☀️ SUNRISE: 5:36 AM
🌅 SUNSET: 7:42 PM
✨ Local Opening’s: Mourning Cloak Coffee & Bakery
✨ Local Favorite “Shop” of the Week: Sandwiches Maine
✨ Local Artist of the Week: Pam Chevez

Portside Real Estate Group

Thinking of Moving?

🏡 Hi its me Jake! I write The Portland Logbook, but I also help people buy and sell homes in and around Portland.

If a move is on your mind, I’m always happy to help you think it through.

Lets get a coffee!

🐾 Adoptable Buddies of the Week! 🐾

🐶 Chickpea – 8 months
A growing pup with lots of energy, snuggles, and personality. Still learning everything, so she’ll need time, training, and patience. The kind of dog you shape from the start.

🐱 Renesme – 3 yrs
A shy, hand-shy cat who needs space and a slow approach. Part of the Tiny Tiger program. Best in a quiet home, possibly with another pet, and someone who respects her pace.

🐶 Beefcake – 2 yrs
A big, gentle guy who loves people and a good romp. Takes a minute to settle, but thrives with routine and patience. Expect some zoomies and a lot of affection.

🐕 Interested? Check them out here

If the link doesn’t open anymore, it means they’ve already been adopted!