Tours & Events

Gardening Workdays

Next: May 18, 2013
10:00 am – 12:00 pm

Each year volunteers tidy up the cemetery by picking up trash, pruning, planting, and trimming the plants and trees inside. Master gardeners are on hand to train anyone willing to learn about how to work with the plants around the fragile gravestones. Dates and times will be announced as they are planned.

A Visit to the Cemeteries of Peaks Island

June 1, 2013
10:00 am – 12:00 pm

Take the 9:30 am Casco Bay Lines ferry (round-trip ticket $7.70) from Portland. This will get you there in time to meet in front of the general store on Peaks Island at 10:00 am.
Matt Barnes of Yankee Slate Cutting will be our guide as we visit 3 cemeteries:

We hope Matt will show us some of his own gravestone carvings!
Wear appropriate shoes and layers for walking the island. Bring a lunch or grab a sandwich at the general store after the tour, and catch the 12:45 pm ferry back to Portland. Anyone who wishes to stay on the island for the day might enjoy a visit to the Fifth Regiment Museum and return on the 2:45 pm ferry.

Stone Conservation & Preservation: Workdays

June 15, July 6, July 27 & August 17, 2013
9:00 am – 4:00 pm

Learn to beautify the cemetery's historic stones using proper stone conservation and restoration techniques.

History Tours

July 6 - October 14, 2013

Spirits Alive offers history tours to visitors who are willing to walk the 6-acre site learning about its part in the history of Portland and those who reside within the gates.

Stone Survey: Photography

2012 - present

We spent 4 years transcribing and documenting every stone on the site on paper. Now we are photographing each of them one by one. Wanna help?

Walk Among the Shadows

Late October evenings

In October, we conduct these evening tours with costumed actors who portray the ghosts of people who lived and died in our city.