[3] Having outgrown its space in Augusta, MVTI and its 156 students moved in the summer of 1952 to the site of the decommissioned Fort Preble in South Portland.

During the 1960s, the name was changed to Southern Maine Vocational Technical Institute (SMVTI) and authorization was received to award Associate in Applied Science degrees.

[citation needed] During the Revolutionary War, a temporary fortification known as Fort Hancock was built on a point of land on the eastern shore of South Portland, Maine (then part of Cape Elizabeth).

In 1808, under direction of Henry A. S. Dearborn, Fort Hancock was acquired by the federal government and was expanded, partly to enforce a trade embargo that President Thomas Jefferson enacted against Great Britain and France.

On July 15, 1863, Billy Laird, a private in the 17th Maine Regiment, was executed by firing squad at Fort Preble after being charged with desertion.

The L.L.Bean Learning Commons opened in 2014 with a library, advising offices, quiet study rooms, a café, and laboratories and classrooms for Nursing and Health Sciences students.

In 1993, the center was renovated into a conference and lodging facility and is now utilized for students who are attending SMCC in the Culinary Arts and Hospitality Management programs.

[citation needed] Spring Point and Surfsite Residence Halls are located on the South Portland Campus and accommodate roughly 450 students a semester.

Orion Residence Hall on the Midcoast Campus served as bachelor officers' quarters when the Brunswick Naval Air Station was open.

[citation needed] SMCC graduates typically directly enter the workforce or continue their education at a baccalaureate college of university.

The arboretum contains many kinds of native salt-tolerant trees and shrubs, including a good specimen of Swiss Stone Pine (Pinus cembra).