Exchange Street, Portland, ME, Visitor Guide & Things to Do Nearby

Exchange Street is a short, busy street in the Old Port district of Portland, Maine, lined with brick buildings from the years after the Great Fire of 1866. It is one of the best places in the city to see how Portland rebuilt itself, and it is now full of shops, restaurants and galleries.

The story behind it

On July 4, 1866, a fire broke out near the waterfront on Commercial Street. The story most often told is that a firecracker landed in wood shavings at a boatbuilder's shop. Strong winds spread the flames through the center of Portland. When the fire finally died down, a huge part of the downtown was in ruins and about 10,000 people had lost their homes.

Exchange Street sat in the burned zone, so it had to be rebuilt along with the rest of the commercial district. The brick buildings you see today mostly date from that rebuilding and give the Old Port its Victorian look. Much of what visitors photograph as charming Portland is really the city's recovery from disaster.

What to look for

• Look up above the shopfronts to see the brick upper floors, with their arched windows and decorative cornices typical of the Victorian commercial style.
• Notice how the buildings are close in height and style, a sign that they went up within a short span of years after the fire.
• Compare the street-level shop windows with the older-looking upper stories, where much of the original character survives.
• Glance down the side streets toward the waterfront, where the fire began, to understand how close the harbor and the town center are.

Tips for your visit

• Exchange Street is a public street, so you can walk it at any time. Individual shops and restaurants keep their own hours, so check current opening hours.
• Give it 20 to 30 minutes on its own, or longer if you want to browse the shops and stop for food.
• Morning is usually quieter, and the light on the brick is good for photographs.
• The street is in the middle of the Old Port, so the waterfront and neighboring streets are a short walk away. Comfortable shoes help, since the area is best explored on foot.

See it on a quest

You can see Exchange Street as one stop on Murder Mystery: Death in the Shadows in Portland, ME, a self-guided walk through the area. You reach the street on foot as part of a longer route, the app tells you about each place as you arrive, and you solve a puzzle in front of you rather than just passing through. One ticket covers the whole group, and you can start whenever you like, with no guide and no set departure time.