Events

History and Art Tours | Workdays

HISTORY AND ART TOURS — Have begun!
Meet at the Congress Street gate of the Eastern Cemetery. Admission is $7, and $4 for students, seniors (62 and up) and children under 12 are free. Please have correct change or check. Tours last about 1 hour and will be canceled if it rains. All funds raised go to the Eastern Cemetery. Check the tour schedule.

History of the Eastern Cemetery - stroll through 350 years of the Eastern Cemetery’s intertwined past with the Portland peninsula in this local history-laden tour.

Earliest Portland – The Unmarked Past - in 1632, settlers began arriving at the place we now call Portland. No buildings remain standing from that time. The open land of Eastern Cemetery is an appropriate site to learn about some of the events of the 17th and early 18th centuries that occurred within sight of the cemetery while they shaped Portland’s indomitable spirit.

Art & the Elements - a fascinating introduction to the geology of the Eastern Cemetery, including markers and monuments; a brief introduction to early mortuary art (as seen on the stones), and the effects of the environment on the site.

Walk Among the Shadows - October tours featuring eerie, adventurous and hilarious stories from Portland’s past. They will feature actors appearing as famous (and infamous!) Portland characters under the luminescence of an early evening moon. Adults $10, children 12 years and younger are free.

WORKDAYS
Join us at the cemetery when we spend a Saturday morning trimming, pruning, cleaning and tidying the landscape. The City of Portland generously supplies us with tools, mulch, water and wheelbarrows, and we train volunteers on how to perform gardening tasks while carefully working around the historic stones. We have a good time and sometimes even break a sweat!

Saturday, July 12th, from 9:00am to 1:00pm
Spice up your summer with a little planting/watering/mulching in the cemetery! All are welcomed, green thumb or not. Wear sensible shoes, bring work gloves, a bottle of water and sunscreen or a hat. Bring tools if you have them – a rake, shovel, pruning shears, and wheelbarrow are very useful. We also take loan of City tools so those will be available. Not up to planting trees? We have light pruning and trimming to do as well, and though volunteers have already done a trash pick-up, there's more to do.

Mark your calendar with these remaining workdays: August 9, and September 13.