May 8, 2021
Did you know that up through the early decades of the 20th Century the Boat Landing on the Chadakoin River was a main hub of activity connecting Jamestown to all of the destinations along Chautauqua Lake? Pictured from the left are The Riverfront Hotel, the Railroad Ticket Station across the street at the River’s edge, and the Fairmount Grocery Store on the opposite corner. Bastien’s Boat Factory is shown on the far right; and Johnson’s Ice House is located in the triple-roofed structures to the rear along the bend in the River. Note the rail tracks embedded in the streets. They served the transportation needs of the residents of Jamestown as well as extending to the many destinations up both sides of Chautauqua Lake the Settlements, Villages & Towns, the Resort Hotels, the Trolley Parks & Chautauqua Institution. Also pictured are several of the steamboats that plied the waters of the Lake, carrying passengers during the summer months. The Boat Landing remains to
Community conversation to focus on past, future of Portland’s Trolley Park
The city is seeking ideas on how to improve the Riverton park.
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Riverton Trolley Park was once home to a stately casino, seen here in 1910. The park, developed by the Portland Railroad Company in 1896 as a popular day-trip destination via trolley, offered a variety of amusements, including a dining hall, theater, boating facilities, a petting zoo and a midway.
Contributed / New England Electric Railways History Society
PORTLAND Today it is a wooded parcel of land with trails connecting to a municipal golf course and leading to the Presumpscot River, but a century ago Riverton Trolley Park was one of Portland’s top attractions.