Congress Street, Portland

Congress Street, the primary thoroughfare in Portland, extends from the city's southwestern border with Westbrook, passing through various neighborhoods, until it reaches the Eastern Promenade on Munjoy Hill. Recognizing its historical significance, the Portland City Council designated a significant portion of the inner section of Congress Street as an official historic district in March 2009. Notably, the western part of the street is home to the city's vibrant Arts District.

When British colonists established what is now Portland in the early 18th century, the population primarily settled near the waterfront, specifically around present-day India Street. Congress Street, initially known as Back Street and later renamed Queen Street, was carefully planned. The street's early prominent structures included the First Parish Meeting House, constructed in 1740 and replaced with the current building in the 1820s, as well as the hay scales in Market Square, which would later be referred to as Monument Square. During the period leading up to the American Revolutionary War, Back Street marked the town's outskirts. In 1823, it was officially renamed Congress Street.

In 1921, the Etz Chaim Synagogue was built towards the eastern end of Congress Street, near Munjoy Hill. Remarkably, as of 2011, it remained the only immigrant-era synagogue in Maine that still operated.