Portland High School originally opened in 1821 as a school for 60 boys on Exchange Street. It moved to Spring Street a few years later, where it stayed for 40 years.
In 1850, a high school for girls opened near the corner of Cumberland Avenue and Chestnut Street. By the 1860s, though, both schools were running out of room. The solution was a new coeducational school, which opened in 1863.
The school was destroyed by fire in May 1911. A new Portland High School opened in February 1919.
The school underwent a major expansion in 1984, adding the John Ford Auditorium, named for Portland High’s Class of 1914 graduate and seven-time Academy Award-winning director John Ford. The project also brought a new gymnasium, classrooms, an atrium and a cafeteria.
Portland High remains one of Maine’s oldest public high schools. Here are seven photographs showing the school and its students and staff from the late ’60s through the early ’90s.
In this photo from the Press Herald’s archives dated Sept. 24, 1968, a variety of now-classic cars, including a Volkswagen bus and Beetle, are seen in the street and parking lot of the Cumberland Avenue school.
A photo from the Evening Express on Oct. 20, 1977 shows Portland High students returning from an evacuation triggered by a malfunctioning smoke alarm system. (John Patriquin/Staff Photographer)
A photo in the Maine Sunday Telegram on Sept. 20, 1981 shows the crowded Portland High cafeteria at lunchtime. (John Patriquin/Staff Photographer)
In a photo taken on Dec. 19, 1984 that ran in the Evening Express on Aug. 28, 1986, two students climb a set of stairs at Portland High. (Merry Farnum/Staff Photographer)
A photo in the Maine Sunday Telegram on March 19, 1989 shows Portland High sophomore Steve Tillman working at a computer that was part of the school’s alternative education program. (John Ewing/Staff Photographer)
A Portland Press Herald photo from Aug. 28, 1991 shows Portland High secretaries preparing opening day student packets. Pictured clockwise from left are Elizabeth Bryant, Lorraine Martorana, Mary Burns and Sandy Cloutier. (Gordon Chibroski/Staff Photographer)
A photo in the Portland Press Herald on Sept. 3, 1992, shows freshmen Christopher LaCasse, left, Billy Reynolds and Brian Caouette lined up for hamburgers grilled by science teacher Jack Ney during a cookout for new students and their parents. (Jack Milton/Staff Photographer)
Aimsel Ponti is a music writer and content producer for the Portland Press Herald. She has been obsessed with – and inspired by – music since she listened to Monkees records borrowed from the town…
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