Libbytown is a neighborhood in

Portland, Maine Portland is the List of municipalities in Maine, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maine and the county seat, seat of Cumberland County, Maine, Cumberland County. Portland's population was 68,408 at the 2020 census. The Portland metropolit ...

, United States. One of the oldest neighborhoods in the city, it is located between the Stroudwater, Rosemont, Oakdale, and Parkside neighborhoods, and is separated from the city of South Portland by the Fore River. It extends to the intersection of Stevens Avenue and Congress Street. It was originally settled by Irish Catholic immigrants. Described as cohesive, it began to decline following the 1961 demolition of

Union Station A union station, union terminal, joint station, or joint-use station is a railway station at which the tracks and facilities are shared by two or more separate railway company, railway companies, allowing passengers to connect conveniently bet ...

on St. John Street. Around the same time, the neighborhood was divided by the construction of Interstate 295 and the

cloverleaf interchange A cloverleaf interchange is a two-level interchange (road), interchange in which all turns are handled by slip roads. To go left (in right-hand traffic; reverse directions in left-driving regions), vehicles first continue as one road passe ...

which comprise exit 5. A long-standing

Denny's Denny's (also known as Denny's Diner on some locations' signage) is an American table service diner-style restaurant chain. It operates over 1,400 Restaurant, restaurants in the United States, Canada, Puerto Rico, and several other internationa ...

restaurant occupied an area formerly known as Libby's Corner, between Park Avenue to the north and Congress Street to the south. It closed in 2022, and was purchased by the

Maine Department of Transportation The Maine Department of Transportation, also known as MaineDOT (occasionally referred to as MDOT), is the office of state government charged with the regulation and maintenance of roads, rail, ferries, and other public transport infrastructure i ...

(MaineDOT). It was demolished in March 2024. MaineDOT plans to construct a roundabout in an attempt to reconnect the neighborhood over sixty years after the division. Park Avenue and Congress Street would return to being two-way streets. The project was given a $22.4 million federal grant as part of the

U.S. Department of Transportation The United States Department of Transportation (USDOT or DOT) is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government. It is headed by the secretary of transportation, who reports directly to the president of the United States a ...

's Reconnecting Communities and Neighborhoods Program. Maine's busiest public transit hub, the

Portland Transportation Center Portland Transportation Center is a bus and train station in Portland, Maine, United States, served and run primarily by Concord Coach Lines (18 round-trips a day) and Amtrak '' Downeaster'' passenger trains (five round-trips a day). It is als ...

, is in Libbytown. Tony's Donuts, a donut shop on Bolton Street, was established in the neighborhood in 1965.

Etymology

Libbytown is named after tavern keeper George Libby and his descendants, who immigrated from Ireland in the early 1800s and set up three businesses between

Park Avenue Park Avenue is a boulevard in New York City that carries north and southbound traffic in the borough (New York City), boroughs of Manhattan and the Bronx. For most of the road's length in Manhattan, it runs parallel to Madison Avenue to the wes ...

and outer Congress Street.

References

{{Portland, Maine Neighborhoods in Portland, Maine

Etymology

See also

References