Eastern Cemetery under a blanket of snow, March 2019

Online in the Winter!

Even though the gates are closed, information about Eastern Cemetery is free and available online. Some ideas to learn about and enjoy our favorite historic Portland, Maine landscape:

The Spirits Alive website includes years of archives and information.

• Use our sitemap to learn more about a specific topic

• Some of the more-visited pages include:

  • Captains of the Boxer and the Enterprise

  • Cemetery Papers - a series of cemetery topics from author, Ron Romano

  • Military Markers in Eastern Cemetery

  • Underground Tombs of Section A

Our Flickr image database holds more than 14,000 images related to Eastern Cemetery as well as tours through other cemeteries.

• Peruse Spirits Alive Albums for a tailored journey, such as:

  • Finds of Eastern Cemetery

  • Urn and Willows of Eastern Cemetery

  • Prairie Lea Cemetery, Brenham, Texas

• Use hundreds of tags to pinpoint specific types of images such as:

  • Fence

  • Flag

  • Veteran

Take a tour any time from any place: Virtual Eastern Cemetery in 12 Stops

Watch the video from this year’s Walk Among the Shadows: “The Secret History of the Eastern Cemetery: Movers & Shakers in the Old Burial Ground”

Portland’s Complicity in the Economics of Atlantic World African Enslavement

This is the first lecture in our 2022 winter lecture series. Historian Seth Goldstein will discuss Portland’s complex relationship with Atlantic world African enslavement. Through a deep dive into what was known as “The West Indies Trade,” Seth will explain how various commodities like lumber and salt cod from Maine were shipped to slave plantations in the Caribbean. He'll discuss how, in return, Maine consumed large quantities of sugar, molasses, rum, and exotic fruits produced by enslaved Africans as well as how Portland—Maine’s largest port and fish export center—was the nexus of this exchange.

• Saturday, January 29

• 1:30pm

• Register through Zoom

Learn more about our Winter Lecture Series on our website.

Future lectures in the series include:

• February 26 - Paul Stevens on the history of the Maine Charitable Mechanics

• March 26 - Michael Connelly on the Irish immigrant experience in mid-19th century Portland

Support Eastern Cemetery

You can help Spirits Alive keep the Eastern Cemetery alive for generations to come. Through your support, you can help us, an ALL-VOLUNTEER organization, to continue to:

• Keep the gates open – encouraging the community to explore its open and safe green space

• Offer education about the cemetery and its residents to the public – through tours, lectures, and events

• Encourage and support the city in keeping the site clean and safe for visitors of all ages

• Preserve this incredible outdoor museum and sacred historic landscape

Spirits Alive is a non-profit, all-volunteer organization dedicated to the protection and preservation of Portland, Maine’s historic Eastern Cemetery through a range of activities including promotion and education.