Aug. 31, 1954: Hurricane Carol makes landfall on New York’s Long Island and proceeds to ravage much of New England and Atlantic Canada. It causes the most severe damage on the coasts of Connecticut and Rhode Island.

In Maine, falling trees damage houses, crush cars, cut power lines and block highways. Wind speed of 80 mph is recorded in Augusta. The storm causes $1.7 million – $16.4 million in 2019 value – to the state’s apple crop.

Many remember it in connection with Hurricane Edna, which wallops Maine and New Hampshire only 11 days later with a ferocity they escape under Carol.

Aug. 31, 1961: Portland’s Union Station, which stood on St. John Street for 73 years, is torn down and later replaced by a strip mall that is still there.

Union Station, Portland, 1900 Image courtesy of the Library of Congress

The demolition of the mostly granite building, including its prominent clock tower, occurs about a year after passenger train service was discontinued in southern Maine.

Several people who live in the neighborhood watch the station’s destruction for weeks.

“It’s too late to do anything about it now, but it’s a crime to take down that building,” says Joseph Murillo, a Valley Street resident and one of the many regulars who maintain an informal sidewalk vigil while the landmark slowly disappears.

Loss of the station becomes one of the reasons for the establishment, three years later, of Greater Portland Landmarks, an organization that seeks to preserve historic buildings in the area.

The destruction of Portland’s Union Station, 1961 Staff Photo by Donald Johnson

Presented by:

Joseph Owen is an author, retired newspaper editor and board member of the Kennebec Historical Society. Owen’s book, “This Day in Maine,” can be ordered at islandportpress.com. To get a signed copy use promo code signedbyjoe at checkout. Joe can be contacted at: jowen@mainetoday.com.