Portland  

 Sundial: 818
State/Province:  Maine Country:  USA
Dial Type:  Horizontal Dial Condition:  Good
  Latitude and Longitude: 43° 40.256' N  70° 16.682' W
Location:
  • Sundial is at the center of the Mayor James Baxter Memorial near the intersection
    of Baxter Boulevard and Vassah Avenue in Portland, Maine
 
Description:
  • A large 1m (3-foot) bronze sundial is set on a low granite dais at the center of a white granite ellipse. Surrounding the sundial are three white granite benches, the center declaring this as a memorial to Mayor James Baxter. The hour ring gives the hours from V in the morning to VII in the evening The ring is further divided into 15 minute increments. The dial has a large 24-point star and on the south end of the dial face the words "Baxter Boulevard". The artful gnomon is about 1-inch thick. Unfortunately the monument setting is heavily wooded and little sunlight reaches this fine dial.

    In 1905 Mayor Baxter commissioned a report "The Park System of Portland" as his vision of creating a network of parks and trails. His son, Gov. Percival Baxter made the first land purchase in 1930 of what would become Baxter State Park including the highest point in Maine, Mount Katahdin.

    In 1925 at the dedication of the sundial memorial, Percival Baxter said of his father, "It is given to but few men to live to see the realization of their dreams. Only occasionally is a man with a vision for the future spared to look upon the perfected structure which he planned and the foundation of which he laid."
 
General Information:Inscription:
  • Owner: City of Portland, Maine
  • ERECTED TO
    His MEMORY BY CITIZENS OF PORTLAND AND FRIENDS OF
    1831 - JAMES PHINNEY BAXTER - 1921
    THROUGH WHOSE VISION DEVOTION AND UNSELFISH EFFORTS
    THE BAXTER BOULEVARD BECAME A REALITY AND IN WHOSE
    HONOR IT WAS NAMED BY THE CITY OF PORTLAND
  • Designer:
  • Builder:
  • Construction Date: 1925
 

Last Revised: 2016-1-21-14:00