The Poland Spring Historic District is a recreational resort complex in southern Maine with historic significance in the areas of health and medicine, entertainment and recreation and industry. With roots in the hospitality industry that stretched to 1794, the resort reached its heyday in terms of size, popularity and reputation, between 1876 and 1933. The district contains 30 buildings or other historic resources either built or associated with the resort during that period. The resort was an important aspect of the emerging tourism industry in Maine in the 1870s, and the spring water bottled at the resort was renowned first in the northeast and then nationally, both for its taste and curative powers. Both of these factors give the district significance on the state-wide level in the areas of Health and Medicine and Entertainment and Recreation. The Poland Spring Historic District is also important in the area of industry for its water-bottling and distribution operation, which enabled a family-owned water source to evolve into one of the most important leaders in the industry into the twenty-first century.