Built ca: 1895 by Edwin Thompson

An attractive Italianate in the Woodford’s Neighborhood

Edwin Thompson went beyond the ordinary.

There are many Italianates of the period in Portland. The basic plan was scalable. It could be a single, or two family depending on size. The shapes were, for the most part, simple angular forms that were easy to assemble. Many were cranked out much as modern tract housing is today. What sets 71 Woodford Street apart is the execution.

Landmarks says 1899 but some information I have points to 1895 or so.

Edwin Thompson was a carpenter who grew up in Buxton. He, with his wife Mary and son Thomas, came to Portland sometime around 1855 or so. They lived on Hanover Street. Where they worked during the 1850s and 60s is not clear. It is very clear that Edwin &  his brother Peter saw, after the Great Fire, the tide of former residents of the peninsula looking for new homes was rising. By 1870, Edwin and Mary, with an 18 year old son and a 5 year old daughter, along with Peter and his family, were living in Woodfords. The census record noted Edwin owned real estate worth $2500 at the time. Listed just above the Thompsons was Warren Sparrow, the well known promoter of the area and builder of the Gothic Revival cottage on Arlington Street. His vast holdings were valued AT $20,000.

Familysearch.org

in 1872, Edwin Thompson began advertising homes in the neighborhood. Often here on Woodford Street. He would continue to do so for the next 2 decades.

Portland Daily Press. May 2, 1872. Newspapers.Com

The house Edwin Thompson built at 71 Woodford Street is 16′ wide on the street and 50′ deep. The cross-gable section adds 10′ to the width and runs 22′ of the depth. It is 2 stories with a partial story in the garret. The double porches are somewhat uncommon for the period. The walls are covered with clapboards on the first floor and shakes above in keeping with the period. It is not clear if the current decorative treatment of the shakes is original.

The build date is unclear. Greater Portland Landmarks came up with ca: 1899.  There were city directory entries for 1896-1900 putting Edwin Thompson on Woodford Street as he had been for some time prior to this. What is different with these entries is a different street number than those listing him prior to 1895. He sold our subject to the Ottawa Park Company in 1902. That deed gave him until the end of the year to vacate the house so, he was living here. Balancing all the evidence, I am leaning towards the slightly earlier date.

Portland Daily Press, August 15, 1892. Newspapers.Com

Portland Daily Press, September 29, 1887. Newspapers.Com

As noted, Edwin Thompson sold 71 Woodford Street to the Ottawa Park Company in 1902. As it was a real estate development company that was advertising properties in the area, it made some sense. 14 months after purchasing our subject, Ottawa Park sold it to Emma Davis. I don’t believe she ever lived here although she owned it until 1921. She was born on a farm in Standish in 1871. Her mother died in childbirth. She never married. In 1902, her father died leaving her a modest inheritance. It would seem her purchase was an investment.

Without a doubt, the west facade of 71 Woodford Street is the most intriguing. The window arrangement at the stairway is very unique. With a combination of curved and stick forms, it expresses the upward motion of the stairs while keeping to the angular nature of the house. It also, no doubt, introduces a substantial amount of light into the area.
The treatment of the gable is even more attractive. The reduction of the form into repeated shapes breaks up what would have been a fairly flat surface. The placement of the transom window just below the architrave ties the sections together and creates an upward movement through the window and eave treatment above. I do have to wonder if there is extra maintenance involved in the ‘nooks and crannies’ this has created.

1914 Richards Atlas. Portland Public Library Digital Commons

Tracing who lived at 71 Woodford Street for the first decade of the 20th century is challenging. The 1903 city directory lists Thomas Thompson, Edwin & Mary’s son, here along with his wife Anna, her sister Harriet, and Thomas’s cousin, also named Harriet . Edwin & Mary were living up the street at 94 Woodford with Eva and her family. In 1908, Mary Thompson died. In 1910, Eva’s husband George died of a cerebral hemorrhage. Edwin Thompson died in 1911. Back at 71 Woodford, 1910 saw a retired merchant from Chicago named George Nichols and his wife Abbie, who was a Portland native, move in along with their grown children, Philip & Abbie. George Nichols died in 1912 but the family remained here until around 1919. In 1921, our subject was sold to Josephine Bradford.

71 Woodford Street in 1924. Maine Memory Network

Josephine Farrar and William Bradford were married in Bath Maine in 1879. By the time they purchased 71 Woodford Street in 1922, they had raised 4 children. William was a partner in Tolman & Bradford Furniture on Cumberland Avenue.  Josephine died in 1927. The following year, the Chapman National Bank foreclosed on the mortgage for our subject. In 1929, the bank sold it to Charity Thompson. Charity and Thomas Thompson, no relation, were Canadians who came to the US in 1888 & 1885 respectively. Thomas was a conductor on the Boston & Maine Railroad freight lines. The Thompsons lived here, along with her father and various boarders until 1945. During the war, boarders included several men who worked in the South Portland Shipyards.

71 Woodford Street saw a myriad of owners between 1945 and 2018 when the current owner purchased it. Ownership lasted an average of 5 years or so over that period with another foreclosure in 1967. It wasn’t until some 18 months after that event when the bank, Maine Savings, transferred ownership to the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development. HUD sold in 9 months later.

71 Woodford Street is a listed as a single-family home. The condition is very good.

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