Eastern Cemetery is an official National Historic Landmark

Summer Life Inside the Gates

Join us to experience the life of Eastern Cemetery! Whether you plan to enjoy the grounds as a tourist or by lending a hand as a volunteer, here is a quick look at what is coming up next.

Independence Day Ceremony

Saturday, July 4
11am

We are collaborating with the VFW to finalize plans for a morning wreath-laying ceremony, followed by another of our popular and free Patriots tours. Keep an eye and ear on our website and social media for official time and details coming soon!

More: spiritsalive.org/events

Walking Tours

Daily at 4pm

We are the only cemetery in Maine that has daily walking tours. Join us for an informative jaunt through the stones with a knowledgeable and trained volunteer guide. Tour groups are small and allow time for questions. $10 per person.

More: spiritsalive.org/tours

Stone Conservation

Saturdays
8am–12pm, weather permitting

Conservation season is here. Each Saturday, we’ll be working to help the old stones in Eastern Cemetery live their best lives. This includes cleaning, straightening, and uprighting. Learn the basics of caring for these stones and take them back to your own cemetery friends, or stay all season and help us with the endless work of improving the situation of countless artifacts. We will continue to combat the elements and the toll they take on our 350-year-old friend by resetting, digging, and ridding its markers of lichen. If you want to be added to our conservation email list, let us know: easterncemetery@gmail.com. We love beginners and experienced helpers alike. We provide the tools and the expertise and would love to have your on our team. You never know what we’ll dig up!

spiritsalive.org/stones/conserve

Subterranean Celebrity: Captain George Bradford

Captain George Bradford was born in Plymouth, MA (1783), and he died in Bangor, ME (1849). His family counted Mayflower passengers and Plymouth Colony Governor William Bradford among their direct ancestors. George’s direct-line descendant, Anne Wagner, tells us that he was a Master Mariner. He married twice; first to Harriet Churchill in Plymouth (1807). They had four children before moving to Maine around 1815. Two more children were born in Portland before Harriet died in 1820. Three years later, George married Mary Tappan (1823) who predeceased him in 1838.

CAPT.

GEORGE BRADFORD

died

August 4, 1849.

AEt. 65

The Bradfords have a fenced lot in Section A in row 8 (photo above). To the right of George’s small, simple, marble marker is a larger shared marble marker for two of his children, Harriet (1819–1847) and Henry (1816–1840, lost at sea). To the right of that is an even larger marble marker shared by his two wives: Harriet (1786–1820) and Mary (1779–1838). It’s unusual to have two spouses share a marker, and that raises a couple of questions. Was Harriet was buried elsewhere? Was she was buried at Eastern Cemetery in 1820 without a gravestone of her own? The area to the left of George’s stone was apparently left unoccupied. In 2025, the City of Portland approved the placement of a U.S. government veteran marker for George’s younger brother—a military captain—Lemuel Jr. (1775–1814). He was shot and killed in action (War of 1812) at Fort Erie in Canada on September 17, 1814, and his remains were never recovered from the battlefield. As his burial location is unknown, his stone is a cenotaph, a memorial marker placed on an empty grave.

Thanks to Anne Wagner for suggesting we spotlight her ancestors!

Thank you also to our cemetery historian Ron Romano for the the write-up. Suggest your own subterranean celebrity! Just send an email—it doesn't take much (basic vitals, plot location, and or photo) to make a nice little story. An index of all of our Subterranean Celebrities is available.

Art, April, and Martha reading stone inscriptions with a mirror, 2011

It was 20 years ago when a small group of cemetery, gardening, and history enthusiasts gathered under the direction of Christina White to form Spirits Alive.

Thank you to all of our volunteers for their selfless giving of time and resources over the years to protect, preserve, promote, and provide education about this sacred and historic outdoor museum, the Eastern Cemetery. Check out our timeline of Spirits Alive Milestones. Much of this work continues today!

SA Swag

Guess what cemetery fan group has its own shirts, caps, playing cards, and tote bags? Spirits Alive does, that’s who! Visit us on Zazzle to view all of our products. Please know that proceeds go directly back to Spirits Alive to help us fund our work to keep the Eastern Cemetery cared for and to teach others about its wonders.

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

For 20 years, Spirits Alive, a non-profit, all-volunteer organization, has been dedicated to the protection and preservation of Portland, Maine’s historic Eastern Cemetery through a range of activities including promotion and education.