Libbytown is a neighborhood in Portland, Maine , United States. One of the oldest neighborhoods in the city, it is located between the Stroudwater , Rosemont, Oakdale, and Parkside neighborhoods, and is separated from the city of South Portland by the Fore River . It extends to the intersection of Stevens Avenue and Congress Street .
6-429: It was originally settled by Irish Catholic immigrants. Described as cohesive, it began to decline following the 1961 demolition of Union Station on St. John Street . Around the same time, the neighborhood was divided by the construction of Interstate 295 and the cloverleaf interchange which comprise exit 5. A long-standing Denny's restaurant occupied an area formerly known as Libby's Corner, between Park Avenue to
12-610: The Boston and Maine , Maine Central , and Portland and Ogdensburg railroads, although the Grand Trunk Railway continued to use a different station two miles away on India Street . The Maine Central ended passenger rail service to the station in September 1960, and it closed on October 30, when the Boston and Maine moved its remaining trains out of the facility. On August 31, 1961,
18-660: The U.S. Department of Transportation 's Reconnecting Communities and Neighborhoods Program. Maine's busiest public transit hub, the Portland Transportation Center , is in Libbytown. Tony's Donuts, a donut shop on Bolton Street, was established in the neighborhood in 1965. Libbytown is named after tavern keeper George Libby and his descendants, who immigrated from Ireland in the early 1800s and set up three businesses between Park Avenue and outer Congress Street. Union Station (Portland, Maine) Union Station
24-531: The north and Congress Street to the south. It closed in 2022, and was purchased by the Maine Department of Transportation (MaineDOT). It was demolished in March 2024. MaineDOT plans to construct a roundabout in an attempt to reconnect the neighborhood over sixty years after the division. Park Avenue and Congress Street would return to being two-way streets. The project was given a $ 22.4 million federal grant as part of
30-423: The train station was demolished, and a strip mall built on the property. Nevertheless, the Boston and Maine continued multiple daily trains from Portland itself to Boston until 1965. Preservation group Greater Portland Landmarks was formed in 1964, in response to the station's demolition. Noteworthy trains into the 1950s and in some cases to 1960: A proposal to move Amtrak 's Downeaster service from
36-548: Was a train station in the Libbytown neighborhood of Portland, Maine , which operated from 1888 to 1960. Located on St. John Street , it was demolished in 1961 and is now the site of a strip mall . Designed by Boston architects Bradlee, Winslow & Wetherell , the station building was inspired by the designs of medieval French châteaux . It was a primarily granite building, with a 188-foot (57 m) clock tower. The union station opened on June 25, 1888, serving trains of
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