The intertwined story of the Merrill/Macgowan clan who lived at 5 Eastern Promenade is the story of 20th-century Portland.

By Colin W. Sargent

From 1898 to 2021, the Henry Merrill Mansion, designed by John Calvin Stevens, housed generations of the Merrill & Macgowan family on a bluff with spectacular views of the harbor—families whose lives braided themselves into the civic fabric of Portland. The Macgowans owned Custom House Wharf for more than two centuries, 1807-2021. But only one resident arrived by sea from another continent to rule this Queen Anne castle with such bonny grace.

Read the full story in the digital magazine above.