Upcoming Events
Fall/Winter 2025-2026
**Our 2025-2026 lecture series is brought to you with the financial support of SMRT Architects and Engineers**
Saturday, September 20, 2025, 11am to 2pm - Bug Light Food Truck Festival. Bring your appetite to South Portland for the first annual Bug Light Food Truck Festival, sponsored by GoNetSpeed. Choose from a variety of food options to enjoy while taking in the spectacular views of Portland Harbor from Bug Light Park. Admission to the South Portland Historical Society's Cushing's Point Museum is free, as well, and we'll have live music from the museum porch. Food trucks planning to attend include PB&ME, Meet on the Street, Vy Banh Mi, Mainely Burgers, DiMaria & Sons, and Eighty8 Donuts. Rain date: September 27.
Tuesday, September 23, 2025, 6:30pm - Seth Goldstein will present “A History of the Maine Lobster Industry.” Today the Maine lobster is a global icon but historically the crustacean had no commercial value and was considered food for the poor. Seth will trace the lobster fishery from its role in the diet of the Wabanaki to its current status as a multimillion dollar industry. Over the course of the presentation, participants will discover how fishing methods and technology changed as the fishery grew and how the market for lobster has transformed over the years. Free for current Society members; admission for non-members is $20. Lecture will be held in the Casco Bay room of the South Portland Community Center, 21 Nelson Road.
Saturday, October 18, 2025, 1pm - Guided historical tour of the Portland Freedom Trail - Seth Goldstein will lead the tour and share information about Portland’s Black community in the 19th century and the city’s participation in the Underground Railroad and abolition movement. Rain date: October 25. The tour will depart from the intersection of Commercial and India Streets in Portland. This is a fundraising event - the tour is $20 for current Society members; $40 for non-members. Pre-registration is required; Please preregister by emailing developmentsphistory@gmail.com.
Tuesday, October 21, 2025, 6:30pm - Matt Blazek, the education director of the organization Maine’s First Ship, will offer a presentation about the pinnace Virginia. The Virginia was the first ship crafted in British North America. She was built at the Popham Colony, at the mouth of the Kennebec River, in the winter of 1607-1608. Maine’s First Ship completed a reproduction of the vessel in 2022. Today they offer excursions aboard the vessel and educate the public about the ship and the history around it at t heir riverfront museum in Bath. Free for current Society members; admission for non-members is $20. Lecture will be held in the Casco Bay room of the South Portland Community Center, 21 Nelson Road.
*Sunday, November 9, 2025, 11am-1pm - Sunday Chat with Kathryn Onos DiPhilippo and Matt Christoforo at the Cushing's Point Museum at Bug Light Park - Kathy is the South Portland Historical Society's executive director and the author of South Portland: A Nostalgic Look at Our Neighborhood Stores. She also researches and writes the Society's weekly history column A Window on the Past. Matt Christoforo is the Society's historian and will be offering another lecture this winter on Portland Harbor's defenses during WWII. **Books will be available for purchase and signing at this free event**
*Sunday, November 16, 2025, 11am-1pm - Sunday Chat with Beck Dorey-Stein at the Cushing's Point Museum at Bug Light Park - Beck is a South Portland resident and author of the newly-released novel Spectacular Things. The book is set in a fictional town, but references actual local landmarks like Becky's Diner and the Casco Bay Bridge. Beck previously worked as a stenographer in the White House from 2012-2017 and wrote a non-fiction book about her experiences, From the Corner of the Oval: A Memoir. **Books will be available for purchase and signing at this free event**
Thursday, November 20, 2025, 6:30pm - Writer Linda Snow McLoon will present “Like Father, Like Son: A Southern Maine Family in the Revolutionary War.” Following the battles of Lexington and Concord, Silas Burbank of Scarborough joined a militia group heading for Boston, taking along his two young sons to serve as a fifer and a drummer. This illustrated program tells the Burbank’s fascinating story of their service in the American Revolution, including being captured by the British, dining with General Washington, and playing a role in Benedict Arnold’s defection. Stunning 18th century Revolutionary War art is included in the presentation. Free for current Society members; admission for non-members is $20. Lecture will be held in the Casco Bay room of the South Portland Community Center, 21 Nelson Road.
*Sunday, November 23, 2025, 11am-1pm - Sunday Chat with Michael Connolly at the Cushing's Point Museum at Bug Light Park - Michael is the author of Seated by the Sea: The Maritime History of Portland, Maine, and its Irish Longshoremen and has also written two books of historic fiction: Murky Overhead and Ever the Twain Shall Meet. **Books will be available for purchase and signing at this free event**
*Sunday, November 30, 2025, 11am-1pm - Sunday Chat with Paul Ledman - Paul’s newest book, Portland Maine: Connections Across Time, is an intriguing work that connects Portland history to contemporary global events. The book is packed with maps and photographs that help the reader understand the many connections between historic Portland and national and global trends. Paul is also the author of Walking Through History: Portland, Maine on Foot and A Maine Town Responds: Cape Elizabeth and South Portland in the Civil War. **Books will be available for purchase and signing at this free event**
*Sunday, December 7, 2025, 11am-1pm - Sunday Chat with Kate Kennedy - Kate Kennedy is the author of Maine’s Remarkable Women: Daughters, Wives, Sisters and Mothers Who Shaped History and a novel titled End Over End. She served as the director of the Southern Maine Writing Project at the University of Southern Maine from 2006 to 2012. **Books will be available for purchase and signing at this free event**
*Sunday, December 14, 2025, 1pm - Jack Nordby recites A Child’s Christmas in Wales - Society member Jack Nordby will return for an encore performance of his recital of the Dylan Thomas classic, A Child’s Christmas in Wales, at the historical society’s museum at Bug Light Park. A Child's Christmas in Wales is a much-loved, almost lyrical tale of childhood Christmas memories. This 25-minute star of Thomas' work is best heard aloud for the "music" in the words. **This is a free event.**
Thursday, January 15, 2026, 6:30pm - Society historian Matt Christoforo will present “Defending Casco Bay During WWII: The Technology.” From 1940-1945 Casco Bay was a vital port for the European Theater and played an instrumental role in the overall success of the Allies in World War II. However, defending the bay could not be achieved in any conventional sense, and advancements in electronic technology would provide an advantage that was not available in the last war. The development of magnetic sounding loops, radar, and hydrophones would give the harbor defense command advanced notice of an enemy presence both above and below the waters of the North Atlantic. This lecture is being presented as a continuation of the "Defending Casco Bay During World War II" topic that was delivered this past January, and we hope you will join us for an in-depth look at the technology that helped Casco Bay stay on the alert during the Second World War. Free for current Society members; admission for non-members is $20. Lecture will be held in the Casco Bay room of the South Portland Community Center, 21 Nelson Road.
Thursday, February 12, 2026, 6:30pm - Earle Shettleworth and Paul Stevens will offer a fascinating presentation about John Calvin Stevens, one of Maine’s most influential architects who left a legacy through his distinctive Shingle Style and Colonial Revival designs that helped shape the character of coastal communities like Portland, South Portland, and Cape Elizabeth. Our co-presenters will be: Earle Shettleworth, Maine’s State Historian and a lifelong advocate for historic preservation across the state, and Paul Stevens, a respected Maine architect with nearly 60 years of experience, known for continuing the legacy of his great-grandfather, John Calvin Stevens, through his work at SMRT, a firm founded by the elder Stevens in 1884. The lecture will be hosted by Craig Piper, an architect with SMRT and Vice President of South Portland Historical Society. Free for current Society members; admission for non-members is $20. Lecture will be held in the Casco Bay room of the South Portland Community Center, 21 Nelson Road.
March - date and time TBA - Our own Kathy DiPhilippo will present an illustrated lecture, "South Portland Shipbuilding During the Great War." Kathy has done extensive research on the shipyards and shipbuilding activities that took place in South Portland during World War I. Although on a smaller scale than WWII, the shipyards' needs for workers led to a housing shortage in 1918. From fishing trawlers built to supply food for soldiers, to the large Ferris ships that were made to carry wartime supplies for the troops, South Portland's shipyards built a variety of ships to aid in the war effort overseas. We'll take a look at the four shipyards along our shoreline that were actively working on ships in 1918, right up until the Armistice on November 11, 1918.
April 2026 - to be announced
Wednesday, May 20, 2026, 6:30pm - South Portland Historical Society will hold its annual meeting and lecture. Check back for updated information.
Saturday, July 4, 2026, 11am-2pm - Independence Day Classic Car Show, presented by Yankee Ford - join us for the festivities at Bug Light Park on the 4th of July! Antique and classic cars will be on display on the field across from the museum - food trucks - Summer in Maine Auction - patriotic kite flying - reading of the Declaration of Independence from the front porch of the museum at Noon!