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From June 26th to July 5th, 1920, the State of Maine held a massive celebration in Portland, Maine to celebrate the centennial of Maine’s statehood.
One of the 24 “Historical Floats” in the two separate Maine Centennial parades that were held on June 30 and July 5 of that year was a float honoring Maine’s famous Portland Head Lighthouse, which was the eleventh float in the parade. As were all of the historical floats in the parade, the lighthouse float was pulled by a team of horses.
The float is shown here in front of the three-story red brick 1865 Davis Building at 390 Congress Street in Portland. The building no longer stands, having been replaced in the 1940s by the building that stands there today.
If you look closely, most of the men attending the parade were wearing straw hats that were popular at the time. In the street blocked off to the right, between the two buildings, you can see the tops of the automobiles that filled the street.
According to a booklet published about the centennial, the Portland Head Lighthouse float was sponsored and paid for by the following people and businesses: W. V. McKenney Co., J. H. Cary Elec. Co., Charles Coughlin, M.A. Fessenden, Cumberland Co. Power & Light Co., George H. Lowell, George Sears, Henry Floyd, B. F. Cary, A. R. Partridge, Eastern Elec. Supply Co., and The Gainaday Co. of Maine.
This story appeared in the
Jan/Feb 2019 edition of Lighthouse Digest Magazine. The print edition contains more stories than our internet edition, and each story generally contains more photographs - often many more - in the print edition. For subscription information about the print edition, click here.
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