Built in 1874 for William & Clara Gray
A tall Italianate in the Munjoy Hill neighborhood.
By request from Reddit.
William Gray was a native of Portland. He was born to George and Eunice Gray in 1828. George was a ship captain who became a trader and merchant. The family lived on Hampshire Street. Clara Randall was born in Freeport to Isaac & Elizabeth Randall in 1833. The Randall family moved to Portland in the 1840s and lived in Back Cove Village where Isaac & his brother were traders and merchants as well. William & Clara married in January of 1859 and in November of the same year, Gertrude Gray was born. Arthur was born in 1861 and Harriet in 1867.
The window arrangement on the ell facing the Prom enhances the verticality of the house.
William purchased the land for our subject from William & Susan Boyd for $1000 in 1873. What William and Clara Gray had built measures 39′ on the Eastern Promenade and some 58′ along Vesper Street. It is 2 full stories with a 3rd in the garret. The windows are arranged in a functional manner. They have simple, square, casings with projecting, molding, caps. The only decoration of note is on the portico.
Portland Daily Press. June 30, 1873. Newspapers.Com
Portland Daily Press. February 2, 1874. Newspapers.Com
William Gray was a painter. He was the foreman of the Grand Trunk Railroad paint shop for several years before venturing out on his own. He worked on many buildings in the city as well as some passenger steamers. Newspaper articles mention his work on the Shailer School on North Street in 1881, the steamer ‘Lewiston’ built in 1876, the 2nd Congregational Church (demolished) on Congress Street in 1887 and the spire of the 1st Parish Congregational Church, also on Congress Street, in 1888.
Steamer ‘Lewiston’ in 1895. Marinersmuseum.org
William partnered with Jerome Fickett to form Fickett & Gray Paints, Oil & Varnish with a storefront on Fore Street in early 1867. This partnership lasted less than a year before dissolving in January of 1868. William would remain independent until his son joined him in William Gray and Son in the 1880s.
On October 15 of 1888. Gertrude Gray married Freeman Weeks in her parents home. Weeks was a 30 year old engineer who had built steamships for the ‘island run’ inside Casco Bay. Freeman became a grocer after the death of his brother in 1890. The Weeks lived on Congress between Hampshire & India Streets. On July 10, 1891, while cleaning his revolver, Freeman Weeks shot himself in the chest. The bullet passed above the heart and through the lung. Weeks lived for 8 days before dying of infection on July 19. The couple had no children. Gertrude moved back to 46 Eastern Promenade.
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- Portion of 1876 Birds Eye view. Library of Congress
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- 1882 Moulton map. Portland Public Library Digital Commons
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- 1914 RIchards Atlas. Portland Public Library Digital Commons
William Gray retired from day to day business in the 1890s. Arthur ran the business from then on. Arthur had married Louis Emery of Portland in 1884. Louis was the daughter of Samuel & Louis Emery and a relative of Freeman Weeks, her mother and Freeman were cousins. They had 3 children and lived nearby on Vesper Street. Harriet Gray married William Bell of Boston in 1892. William Gray died on May 22 of 1901. The cause of death was ‘pernicious anemia‘. Clara and Gertrude lived on here through 1913 when Clara died of a cerebral hemorrhage. In 1915, the children sold our subject to George F Reynolds.
Portland Evening Express. May 29, 1901. Newspapers.Com
George Reynolds ‘grew up’ in a machine shop. His father and grandfather were blacksmiths turned machinists. Roscoe, George’s father, was something of a ‘rags to riches’ story. He was the first of his family to attend school. Starting as an errand boy, Roscoe became the agent, or manager, for the AD Lockwood machine shop in Lewiston. Lockwood designed and built several of Lewiston’s mills. The Reynolds built a grand home at the corner of Main & Frye Streets that is still there and houses various businesses and a law office.
George was born in 1865 and married Martha Holland, born in 1870, in May of 1888. In 1893, they had a son, Roscoe, and in 1903, Katherine was born. By that time, George, Martha, & Roscoe had moved to Portland. They lived on Munjoy Street, then farther up the Eastern Promenade at #96 before purchasing our subject. George had taken the position of treasurer of the Portland Company by then. He would in time become the general manager.
George & Martha Reynolds in 1907 in their Knox Runabout. Maine Memory Network
In 1926, Roscoe Reynolds married Helen Leavitt of Waterville. Roscoe followed his father in a career at the Portland Company. Katherine married a Newfoundland born physician from Everett MA named Hubert Boyle in 1929. Hubert worked in the fight against tuberculosis and would become the manager of a sanatorium in the 40’s & 50’s.
46 Eastern Promenade in 1924. Maine Memory Network
George F Reynolds died in 1945 at the age of 80. 46 Eastern Promenade was left in a trust that was overseen by the Canal Bank. Martha, Roscoe & Helen lived here until Martha died in 1959 at the age of 90. 46 Eastern Promenade then sold to Laura Reiche. Laura was born Christian Laura Knudsen in Portland in 1902. Her father, Knud, was a 34 year old Dane who had emigrated in 1893. He worked at the Portland Stove Foundry as a mold-maker before becoming a police officer. Her mother, Christine, was also a Danish immigrant. Laura married Howard Reiche in 1929.
Howard Reiche was from New Haven CT. He was born in 1902 to Ida & Robert Reiche Jr. Robert was a postal worker on the railroads. The Reiches moved to Portland in 1912. Howard graduated from Portland High in 1920 and returned to teach there in 1925. A short bio printed at the time of his death stated that he had “taught in some eastern cities before returning to Portland” but most information says he spent his entire career here.
Howard C Reiche would go on to to become principal of Portland High for 25 years and have the Reiche School in the West End named for him in 1973. He and Laura had a son, Howard Jr, in 1929, and a daughter, Gretchen in 1934.
Laura Reiche died in February of 1983. Howard died just over a year later in February of 1984. After his death, 46 Eastern Promenade passed to 2 heirs who lived in North Yarmouth. They rented it out. It was sold in 1992 and the current owner, who had been a tenant, purchased it in 1998.
46 Eastern Promenade is listed as a 4-family home. The condition is very good.
Portland House Stories 