Riverton Trolley Park was only open for about 40 years and is now getting overdue improvements
PORTLAND, Maine — The Riverton Trolley Park opened to the public in Portland 125 years ago this week.
It was located near the intersection of Forest Avenue and Riverside Street, in the area where Allagash Brewery is now. The park was built with the hope of drawing working-class people from downtown Portland to the edge of Westbrook on the weekends.
For five cents you could get a round-trip trolley ride as well as admission into the park.
The park’s design was inspired by the Boston Public Garden and featured a dance hall, a small zoo, an outdoor theater, a croquet field, and a stocked trout pond.
The Portland Railroad Company, which built the park, sold it at the beginning of World War I, but it remained open until 1933. Many of the buildings were destroyed by fires. Buildings that were not burned were scavenged for wood during the Great Depression.