Little Diamond Island Casino

The Little Diamond Island Casino is nominated to the National Register of Historic Places as a locally significant example of a type of community building that historically has, and currently is, the central focus of the social life of the inhabitants of this small island in Portland, Cumberland County, Maine.  Built in 1909 by developer Charles “Windy” Brown as a restaurant and small store to anchor a nascent summer cottage development on the island, the Casino has served as the community hall, meeting hall, and entertainment venue since 1924.  The two-story wood framed building is located on Shell Island, a rocky protuberance of ledge and boulders, and is connected to Little Diamond Island via the public pier. As befits its location, the building features a wrap-around porch/veranda, and multiple windows on all sides to take in the view.  The low-slung hip roof of the shingled building serves to shield the interior from the sun and to visually lower its profile.  While firm architectural attribution is unknown, the building falls into a stylistic and design category of buildings built for similar functions throughout seaside summer colonies and resorts, and along Maine’s many interior lakes.  The Little Diamond Island Casino is significant under Criterion A for social history and as a site for entertainment and recreation, and it is also significant under Criterion C, architecture, as a type of building erected at the turn of the twentieth century in a specific context.  The period of significance is 1909-1912 and 1924 – 1976 (fifty years before the present).