Cumberland

Formed November 1, 1760 (2^nd county)

Cumberland County (303,076), Portland (68,409)

The masonry Neo-Classical courthouse was built in 1910.  The building is located at Federal and Pearl streets.  United States Highway 1 Alternate is one block to the east.  Guy Lowell and George Burnham are the architects.  The building was enlarged in 1991.  There is an augmenting 1989 courthouse in Brighton.  Portland has been the only county seat with 1786, 1816, 1862, and 1866 courthouses.  Cumberland County is named for the Duke of Cumberland.  Portland is named for Portland, England.  Cumberland County was the birthplace of 7 Maine Governors, William King, Robert P. Dunlap, Frederick Robie, Henry B. Cleaves, Oakley C. Curtis, Percival P. Baxter, and Joseph E. Brennan.  The county was created on November 1, 1760 from York County as the 2^nd county. 

Cumberland Couty government consists of an administrator, a sheriff, a treasurer, and a coroner (executive).  It has 5 Commissioners (legislative.)  Seven District Court Judges, Four Superior Court Judges, One Probate Court Judge, and a court clerk serve Cumberland County (judicial.) The county is in southeast Maine on the Atlantic Ocean.  Bangor, Maine is northeast and Manchester, New Hampshire is southwest of the county.  The county center is 13.7 miles Northwest of Portland nearer Windham.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Androscoggin and Sagadahoc counties and Atlantic Ocean and York and Oxford counties. 

The area of the county is 1217 square miles.  It is 10 out of 16 in the state.  It ranks 1 out of 16 in population in the state.  It has a density of 249.0 persons per square mile making it 1 out of 16 in the state.  Cumberland County has 38.1% of its population in its incorporated areas.  Interstate Highway 95 goes north to southwest through the county from Androscoggin County to York County.  United States Highway 1 passes east to west from Sagadahoc County to York County.  United States Highway 202 parallels Interstate Highway 95 from Androscoggin to York counties.  United States Highway 302 enters from the north, Oxford County, and terminates.  The county looks like a flower vase downed upside down.  Portland is located in the southeast on the Atlantic Ocean.  Portland is the county seat and the largest city.  It is 22.6% of the county population.  This county is in the Portland-South Portland-Biddeford Metropolitan Statistical Area.