Portland's population was 68, in April Historically tied to commercial shipping, the marine economy, and light industry, Portland's economy in the 21st century relies mostly on the service sector. The Port of Portland is the second-largest tonnage seaport in the New England area as of The city seal depicts a phoenix rising from ashes, a reference to Portland's recovery from four devastating fires.
In turn, the city of Portland, Oregon , was named after Portland, Maine. The original Algonquin-speaking Eastern Abenaki residents called the Portland peninsula Machigonne "great neck".
The first European settler was Christopher Levett , an English naval captain granted 6, acres 2, ha in to found a settlement in Casco Bay. A member of the Council for New England and agent for Ferdinando Gorges , Levett built a stone house where he left a company of ten men, then returned to England to write a book about his voyage to bolster support for the settlement. Fort Levett in the harbor is named for him. The peninsula was settled in as a fishing and trading village named Casco.
In , the village was destroyed by the Abenaki during King Philip's War. It was rebuilt. During King William's War , a raiding party of French and their native allies attacked and largely destroyed it again in the Battle of Fort Loyal In , the citizens of Falmouth formed a separate town in Falmouth Neck and named it Portland, after the Isle of Portland off the coast of Dorset , England.
In , Maine was established as a state with Portland as its capital. In , the capital was moved north and east to Augusta. In , Maine led the nation by passing the first state law prohibiting the sale of alcohol except for "medicinal, mechanical or manufacturing purposes. The Portland Rum Riot occurred on June 2, In , upon completion of the Grand Trunk Railway to Montreal , Portland became the primary ice-free winter seaport for Canadian exports.
