Located on the Fore River, Stroudwater was founded by Colonel Thomas Westbrook in 1727 as a landing for shipping masts to England. The Stroudwater area eventually grew to include lumber mills, a tannery, and various stores. After the Cumberland and Oxford Canal was completed in 1830, connecting the Fore River with Sebago Lake, the village became a bustling trade center. Manufactured goods and groceries from Portland were shipped through Stroudwater to the interior. The canal was eventually replaced by the railroads, and the railroad bridge at the mouth of the Fore River cut the area's wharves off from the harbor. Stroudwater then became an exclusively residential community. The historic district is bounded by Penrith Road, the Fore River, and Garrison Street. It includes many fine homes dating from the eighteenth century including the George Tate House (1755), a National Historic Landmark, as well as the Stroudwater Cemetery with the oldest marked burial dating to 1739. Despite development in the surrounding areas, especially the construction of the Portland International Jetport, Stroudwater remains an intact example of a nineteenth-century village.
Listed: 1972
For more information: https://npgallery.nps.gov/NRHP/AssetDetail?assetID=b6c50e0d-ffe4-4278-aa13-36358a3210e9