Founded in 1822, the Maine Historical Society occupies 489 Congress Street in downtown Portland. Founded in 1822, it is the official historical society of the U.S. state of Maine and the third-oldest state historical society, after the Massachusetts Historical Society and the New York Historical Society. The Society currently operates the Wadsworth-Longfellow House, a National Historic Landmark, Longfellow Garden, the Maine Historical Society Museum and Store, and the Brown Research Library.
It also runs the Maine Memory Network, an online database of documents and images that includes resources from many of the state's local historical societies. Influential members included many of Maine's Yankee businessmen, intellectuals, philanthropists, and political figures, including James Phinney Baxter, Josiah Crosby and George J. Varney. William Willis, mayor of Portland, served as president from 1856 to 1865; James Phinney Baxter was president from 1889 to 1921; and Earle G. Shettleworth Jr., state historian of Maine, was president from 1977 to 1979.
The Maine Historical Society is the official historical society of the U.S. state of Maine. It was founded in 1822. Notice the street and buildings framing Congress Street here in downtown Portland.