Calais Residential Historic District


The Calais Residential Historic District encompasses the town's best collection of well-preserved 19th-century residences in Calais, Maine. Located on Calais Street and Main Street, the district includes twenty properties developed between the early 19th century and 1900. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1994.

Description and history

The town of Calais, Maine is located in Down East Maine, just across the Saint Croix River from Saint Stephen, New Brunswick. The 19th century was a period of significant growth and development as a lumber processing center, with shipbuilding also an important industry in the first half of the century. Main Street was laid out running roughly northwest-to-southeast along the river bank, and Calais Street developed as a residential street running southwest from Main Street. Calais Street is notable for its wide grassy median, and it was at the junction of the two streets that the first Congregational Church was built in 1826. commercial structure in the district is a small 1835 hotel, the first brick hotel building to be built east of Bangor.