My First Visit to Portland

In the autumn of 1829, a young countryman decides it is time to see what the world is made of—and sets his sights on Portland.

With a single dollar in his pocket, a wagonload of axe handles, and a head full of curiosity, Major Jack Downing journeys from rural life into a growing New England town rumored to reward enterprise and quick thinking. What follows is a quietly comic account of first impressions: shrewd advice from a newspaper editor, bustling streets and shopfronts, and a memorable test of city “sharpers” along Huckler’s Row.

Told in plainspoken, confident prose, My First Visit to Portland captures the humor of early American life through observation rather than exaggeration. Downing’s narrator is no fool—curious, self-reliant, and amused by human nature, he meets city commerce on his own terms and learns that wit and common sense travel just as well as money.

This short classic is both a satirical travel sketch and a snapshot of a nation in motion, where ambition, bargaining, and character shape the American experience one encounter at a time.

Told in plainspoken, confident prose, My First Visit to Portland captures the humor of early American life through observation rather than exaggeration. Downing’s narrator is no fool—curious, self-reliant, and amused by human nature, he meets city commerce on his own terms and learns that wit and common sense travel just as well as money.

This short classic is both a satirical travel sketch and a snapshot of a nation in motion, where ambition, bargaining, and character shape the American experience one encounter at a time.