Middle Street

{{for|the street in Shenyang, China|Zhongjie}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=February 2025}}

{{Use American English|date=January 2025}}

{{Coord|43.65649837|-70.25332479|display=title}}

{{Infobox street

| name = Middle Street

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| image = File:1863 MiddleSt Portland Maine 2.png

| image_size = 250px

| image_alt =

| caption = An 1863 view of the now-pedestrianized section of Middle Street between today's Monument Square and Free Street

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| image_map = {{Infobox mapframe|zoom=15}}

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| former_names =

| part_of =

| namesake =

| length_mi = 0.46

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| location = Portland, Maine, U.S.

| terminus_a = Hancock Street

| direction_a = Northeast

| junction =

| terminus_b = Union, Spring, & Temple Streets

| direction_b = Southwest

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File:The Maine Lobsterman 2025.jpg. It is now pedestrianized]]

Middle Street is a downtown street in Portland, Maine, United States. Dating to 1724 (although part of it was a path established by ancient settlers),{{Cite book |last=Willis |first=William |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BTszI7Zrv30C&dq=mountfort+street+history+portland+maine&pg=PA351 |title=The History of Portland, from its First Settlement |date=1833 |pages=120 |language=en}} it runs for around {{Convert|0.46|mi|km}}, from an intersection with Union Street, Spring Street and Temple Street in the southwest, to Hancock Street, at the foot of Munjoy Hill, in the northeast. It formerly originated at what was then known as Market Square (today's Monument Square),{{Cite web |title=Middle Street from Monument Square, Portland, ca. 1910 |url=https://www.mainememory.net/record/28891 |access-date=2024-03-11 |website=Maine Memory Network |language=en}}{{Cite web |title=Middle St. looking towards Monument Square, Portland, Me - Digital Collections - National Library of Medicine |url=https://collections.nlm.nih.gov/catalog/nlm:nlmuid-101461308-img |access-date=2024-03-11 |website=collections.nlm.nih.gov}} but 20th-century redevelopment saw the section between Monument Square and Free Street pedestrianized,{{Cite book |last=Ledman |first=Paul J. |title=Walking Through History: Portland, Maine on Foot |publisher=Next Steps Publishing |year=2016 |isbn=978-0-9728587-1-7 |pages=20}} and the remaining section—around The Maine Lobsterman monument on Temple Street—erased.{{Cite book |last=Ledman |first=Paul J. |title=Walking Through History: Portland, Maine on Foot |publisher=Next Steps Publishing |year=2016 |isbn=978-0-9728587-1-7 |pages=115}}

Near its midsection, Middle Street crosses Franklin Street. In 1756, when Franklin Street was laid out between Middle Street and Back Street (today's Congress Street), it was known as Fiddle Street.[https://digitalcommons.portlandlibrary.com/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1000&context=books_documents The Origins of the Street Names of the City of Portland, Maine as of 1995] – Norm and Althea Green, Portland Public Library (1995)

In the early 1950s, the newly created Slum Clearance and Redevelopment Authority{{Cite journal |date=1959-01-01 |title=Vine-Deer-Chatham Project: Relocation, A Community Effort. |url=https://digitalcommons.portlandlibrary.com/citydocs_documents/11 |journal=Individual Documents}} Vine-Deer-Chatham project demolished Portland's Little Italy, which was bounded by Franklin Street to the east, Fore Street to the south, Pearl Street to the west and Middle Street to the north. The head of Deer Street was opposite the Thompson Block at 117–125 Middle Street.{{Cite web |title=31-33 Deer Street, Portland, 1924 |url=https://www.mainememory.net/record/63283 |access-date=2024-04-22 |website=Maine Memory Network |language=en}}

Middle Street, which is named for its position between Congress Street and Fore Street, passes through Portland's Old Port district. A creek once flowed up from Clay Cove, the original commercial center of Portland, to Turkey Lane (today's Newbury Street). It was large enough that ships used to sail up it past Middle Street, where an arch was built over the creek.{{Cite book |last=Willis |first=William |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_History_of_Portland_from_its_First_S/BTszI7Zrv30C?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=clay+cove+portland+maine&pg=PA118&printsec=frontcover |title=The History of Portland, from its First Settlement |date=1833 |pages=118 |language=en}}