The Oldest Shopping Mall in Maine is 65 Years Old

There was once a time across the nation when shopping malls were an essential sign of a town's success. It marked a hub of commercial and social activity, where people would gather and businesses would thrive.

Maine was no exception to the rule. Throughout the '80s and '90s, shopping malls both small and large popped up in towns and cities across the state. They became so popular that Lewiston actually had thriving, competing malls operating right across the street from one another.

But times change, and so do shopping habits. Many malls throughout Maine are hanging on by a thread, transformed into something else, or have shut down completely. But not the oldest mall in Maine. It has continued to be a mall people visit despite being 65 years old.

According to Business Insider, the Pine Tree Shopping Center (right on the Portland and Westbrook town lines) remains the oldest shopping mall in all of Maine. The mall first opened in 1959, and has had several signature tenants over the course of the last six decades.

The original anchor tenants of the mall were Woolworth's and Zayre's. Initially, the mall was one of the most popular in the state because it was open at night, while many others closed before the evening. It also featured stores with air conditioning, which was not a regular amenity in the 1960s.

Over the last six decades, the mall has seen many other stores come and go. From Marden's to Ames, Shaw's, and Maine's only location of Child World. Recently, Big Lots had been an anchor tenant, but they've since announced their permanent closure.

So while many would have suspected the Maine Mall to be the state's oldest, the little shopping plaza that could is still hanging on. Can it make it another 65 years? Only time will tell.