Experience the old neighborhood with a tour led by Polina Oleson, author of Stories from Jewish Portland.

In the early 1900's, Eastern European and Sephardic Jews settled in South Portland. It was a close and largely self-contained neighborhood. There were kosher butcher shops and bakeries, a Jewish orphanage and an old age home, social activism and immigrant benevolent societies. There were schools, a library with Yiddish books, and the Neighborhood House, a focal point with a Hebrew school, citizenship classes, and youth activities.

In 1958 Portland voted to create the South Auditorium Urban Renewal District and bulldozers demolished 54 blocks of the immigrant community.

Despite this, today there are intact reminders of the way life used to be. Join Polina Olsen for a walking tour of the old neighborhood including period newspaper articles, photos and accounts from people who grew up there.

Cost: $10 (pay cash or check at tour to Jewish Federation). Pre-registration required to receive tour starting point. RSVP to [email protected].