For the longest time, the South Portland Greenbelt was just something I drove over on my way to Night Moves Bakery or Second Rodeo. I knew it was there, but I had no idea where it actually went. I was mostly just trying not to hit someone riding a bike across it.

Then a friend told me they had just ridden the whole new path and that I had to try it, so I finally did.

It was honestly way better than I expected. You can start at Bug Light and just keep going south through neighborhoods, little wooded sections and parts of South Portland. I had probably driven past a hundred times without ever really noticing.

The only part that used to stink was when you got down near Wainwright. The trail would just stop, you had to get back on the road for a bit, and then eventually pick it back up farther south.

That part is finally fixed.

A new 1.6-mile section of the Eastern Trail just opened between Wainwright and the Nonesuch River in Scarborough, which finally connects the South Portland Greenbelt to the rest of the Eastern Trail.

It is only 1.6 miles, but it was the one little piece that was missing. Now you can start at Bug Light and bike or walk roughly 16 miles off-road all the way to downtown Saco, which is pretty crazy when you think about it.

I just love that we have this now. The Greenbelt is one of those things that has been sitting right in front of me for years and I had no idea how good it actually was.

So if you are like me and mostly know it as the bike path you cross on your way to get a pastry, you should probably go use it.

I really wish I had sooner.

Hearts of Pine wants to build its new stadium on a piece of Portland called Cassidy Point.

I knew the area, kind of. It’s that industrial stretch along the Fore River by the Veterans Memorial Bridge with the giant coal pile, train tracks and marine terminals. What I didn’t know was why it was called Cassidy Point, or really anything about the place before it became what it is now.

So I started looking into it.

The Cassidy name actually starts up the hill, around Danforth Street near Western Cemetery. In the 1800s, that area became known as Cassidy Hill after Philip Cassidy, an Irish immigrant who lived there.

Cassidy’s story is pretty interesting on its own. When he shows up in a Portland directory in 1844, he’s listed simply as a laborer living near Vaughan’s Bridge. By the 1860s, he had become a foreman at the Portland Kerosene Oil Company, and in 1868 he bought five acres of land on the hill from John Bundy Brown, one of Portland’s biggest landowners.

Cassidy built a brick house there, and eventually the hill started carrying his name.

Cassidy wasn’t some huge developer or famous Portland figure. From what I can tell, he was an Irish immigrant who worked here, bought a piece of land for himself, and somehow his name is still sitting on the map more than 150 years later.

The waterfront below changed a lot after that.

Railroads, freight and marine businesses gradually took over this whole western edge of Portland. Vaughan’s Bridge crossed the Fore River nearby for more than 150 years, so the area that now feels like the back edge of the city was actually once one of the ways people came into Portland.

The part I liked most was finding out that people actually painted Cassidy Hill. There’s a piece from the 1930s called Spring on Cassidy’s Hill, and another watercolor just called Cassidy’s Hill. I had only ever pictured this area as the coal pile and train tracks, so seeing that people used to look at the same part of Portland and paint it was pretty cool.

Today, most of us probably know it, if we know it at all, as the place with the giant coal pile.

That’s also partly by design. Portland has kept much of this side of the waterfront focused on rail, freight and marine industry for decades, so unless you worked down there, there really hasn’t been much reason to go.

Now Hearts of Pine wants to change at least part of that.

The club has agreed to buy part of Cassidy Point and is planning a 9,000 to 11,000-seat stadium for its men’s and women’s teams. They’re hoping to start construction in 2027 and open in early 2029, although the plans are still pretty early. The working pier would stay in use, but a piece of waterfront that most Portlanders have basically never had access to could suddenly become somewhere thousands of people are going on a Saturday night.

I started looking into the place where Hearts of Pine might build a stadium and ended up finding this whole little piece of Portland I had never really noticed before.

🐶 Patchy – 3 yrs
Those eyes might get you. Patchy is a little shy at first, but once you're in, you're in. He loves to play, knows a few tricks, and is just as happy curled up next to you on the couch.

🐱 Mortimer – 7 yrs
A talkative little guy who loves boxes, toys, and following his people around the house. Mort can be a little sensitive, but give him time and he'll be chirping at you for treats and falling asleep in your lap.

🐱 Anna – 15 yrs
This sweet senior girl just wants a quiet place to curl up in the sun and spend her days with her people. Anna is diabetic and needs a little extra care, but she's got plenty of good lounging left to do.

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

Western Prom Sunset Concerts @ Western Prom | 6:30 pm | Free

Waylon Wyatt @ State Theatre | 8 pm | 🎟️ $25

Onda Nova @ SPACE | 7 pm | 🎟️ $10

Come From Away @ Maine State Music Theatre | 7:30 pm | 🎟️ $

Mike Maurice & Adam Monaco @ Vinegar Hill Music Theatre | 8 pm | 🎟️ $26

Summer Sunsets Live! @ Thompson’s Point | 5 pm | Free

Thursdays On the Prom - Renovators @ The Eastern Prom | 6 pm | Free

Summer Music Series @ Monument Square | 4:30 pm | Free

Movies on the Monument @ Monument Sq. | 7 pm | Free

The Amazing Acro-Cats @ The Hill Arts | 7 pm | 🎟️ $35

Clinton Fearon and the Naya Rockers @ Portland House of Music | 8 pm | 🎟️ $25

Fifty years of Common ground release party @ Bold | 5 pm | Free

Pete Holmes @ State Theatre | 8 pm | 🎟️ $39

Loudon Wainwright III @ One Longfellow Square | 8 pm | 🎟️ $30

Ben Nichols w/ Cory Branan @ Portland House of Music | 8 pm | 🎟️ $25

Joanne Shaw Taylor @ Aura | 8 pm | 🎟️ $39.50

Haunt w/ DJ Foxy @ 30 Market Street | 10 pm | 🎟️ $10

Deering Oaks Farmers Market @ Deering Oaks Park | 7:30 am | Free

Art in the Park @ South Portland | 9 am | Free

Lake Street Dive (Night 1) @ Thompson's Point | 7 pm | 🎟️ $70

Portland Chamber Music Festival: Rites and Delights @ Stevens Square Community Center | 7 pm | 🎟️ $12

Biz Turkey, Honey Radar, Gum Parker, Phantom Buffalo @ SPACE | 7:30 pm | 🎟️ $

Scarborough Marsh Day @ Blue Point School | 7:30 am | Free

Westbrook Handmade @ Westbrook Common | 4 pm | Free

En-Noble x Ugly Duckling: Central & Southern Africa @ En-Noble | 🎟️ $75

Fruit Forward Mari Market @ 93 Washington ave | 9 am | Free

The Monumental Body @ Lincoln Park | 5 pm | Free

Poetry in the Park @ Congress Sq Park | 10 am | Free

Lake Street Dive (Night 2) @ Thompson's Point | 7 pm | 🎟️ $70

2026 Sundance Film Festival Short Film Tour @ SPACE | 7 pm | 🎟️ $10

North Mississippi All-stars @ Portland House of Music | 8 pm | 🎟️ $35

Queer Makers’ Night Market @ Congress Square Park | 4 pm | Free

Portland Horror Movie Club @ Geno's Rock Club | 7 pm | Free

Until next week,
— Jake Newman