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The Dead House and City Tomb are the first stop on the virtual tour, photo by Ron Romano
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Whether you bring your tech device with you inside the gates and scroll as you walk, or you choose to remain in your safe space and educate yourself on your own time, you can take a tour of the cemetery! Developed by Ron Romano and Holly Doggett of Spirits Alive, this visit includes directions to each stop and images so you can envision the area being described. Also included are links to other pages on our website to learn more about particular topics.
It is our aim to provide you with more ways to learn and enjoy Eastern Cemetery especially since our guided tours have been suspended for 2020. Stay tuned as we develop more virtual tours (both text and video) with the information we have about the Eastern Cemetery and those memorialized within!
In addition to this virtual offering, we have many resources online for you:
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The Congress Street gates are open this season (though they look pretty closed, too)
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As our city grapples with COVID-19 and the ramifications the pandemic is having on their budget, Spirits Alive volunteers have stepped in to keep the gates open daily this season.
Our Gate Angels are making sure the community has access to this sacred historic space even though cuts in the budget render the city unable to divert park ranger time to make this happen as they normally do. The schedule as of today* is that gates daily:
- Open: 8:30am-ish
- Close: 5:30pm-ish
This is dependent on weather and their availability—they do their best to find a backup if they cannot fulfill their daily duty, and appreciate your patience. The closing Gate Angels also appreciate compliance from those, when asked, to leave the cemetery when they need to close the gate in the early evening.
*If the schedule should change for July onward, our website, social media channels, and the sandwich board within the gates will reflect that.
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Billboard Monuments of Maine by Ron Romano book cover
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New book includes a specimen in Eastern Cemetery!
Author Ron Romano, also a faithful volunteer and Spirits Alive board member, has released a 3rd book on Maine's cemeteries and gravestones. In his book, Ron provides a look at a curious form of monument produced in the mid-1800s that resembles a billboard sign. Found in 10 counties in Maine, this design consists of a large stone slab held up on posts. The slab is missing from the one for the Huse family in Eastern Cemetery. An accounting of a feud between Mr. Huse and the Christian Pilot newspaper is described therein.
Ron's new book is being well-received by readers, and has been featured in the Bangor Daily News and on the WCSH newsmagazine, “207.” To get an autographed copy for yourself, email Ron or check the Books page on our website for more information about how to purchase it. The book features:
- Photos of all known billboard monuments in Maine
- Descriptions of their cemeteries in 23 Maine towns
- Information on 6 mid-century (19th) monument makers
- Stories about Civil War service, prohibition, epidemic illness, history of enslaved people, and 2 shipwrecks
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Seeding the slope to stop erosion
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Reaping the benefits of years of hard work: little bluestem doing its job
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What's going on with the unmowed section in the back?
Tucked over the hill and spanning over 3 cemetery sections to the south of the Mountfort gate is a steep decline down into an area set aside for Portland's African American community burials. Over the centuries, the slope has suffered from erosion, taking stones down the hill with it. A few years ago, volunteers headed by Bill Dalbec and Janet Alexander sought a solution in the form of a native Maine grass—little bluestem. Through trial and error, the plantings have taken hold and transformed the slope into a thriving oasis—helping keep the soil and what is left of the stones in the area in place. Now, when you visit the southeastern African American ground, you can look back toward the cemetery and marvel at the beauty of these grasses. When you do, please think of the countless hours Bill and Janet and friends are taking to seed, cultivate, and maintain this historic slope.
The work is not done! This summer, you may see signage indicating that the grasses are not being mowed in order to allow for natural reseeding of the area, and Bill and Janet continue to toil in the soil.
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Volunteers will continue to be on site this season, working on projects alone like Janet here
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We are still here!
The season is normally jam-packed with Spirits Alive tours and volunteer offerings. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, our schedule is looking a bit different this year. We have suspended guided tours. Our group conservation and gardening days have been called off. We have taken over gate opening and closing for the city. We are hoping the site's most traveled areas are periodically mowed.
But we are still here! Our guides are busy thinking of new ways to provide information to virtual tourees. Though we cannot host groups of new conservation volunteers, our trained conservationists will continue to work throughout the summer and fall on simple projects on their own. Our gardeners will rake, mulch, and plant on their own. Volunteers will periodically pick up errant refuse as needed. The gates will remain open as much as possible thanks to our Gate Angels. Data gatherers and photographers continue to record.
You may see grass that is a bit higher and fewer people on site at any given time, but please know that we are still here—gathering data, tending to the stones and landscape, educating others, and watching over this historic gem.
Please email us with questions anytime at easterncemetery@gmail.com
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Tukesbury monument in the tombs section
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Died: April 21, 1866
Jonathan seems to be the first Tukesbury to settle in Portland. He was born in Newbury, MA, and his wife Rebecca was born in Maine. His profession was shoe dealer, according to the Portland Directory, and he had storefronts in Portland starting in the 1830s at Fore and Market Streets with a house on Essex Street. For a while, his partner in the shoe business was Benjamin Fogg, but by 1846, he was sole proprietor. Before his death in 1866, he served as a director of the Bank of Cumberland. The "Jonathan Tukesbury Estate Block" is now 363–365 Fore Street, and the "Jonathan and John C. Tukesbury Block, 1866" is now 2 Exchange Street—named for him and his later partner/oldest son.
Jonathan Tukesbury
Born January 27, 1781
Died April 21, 1866
The Tukesburys have a plot in the tomb section in Eastern Cemetery decorated with a marble monument.* It lists the most people of any tomb—29—as being interred there. There is more information on the Eastern Cemetery tombs on our website.
More views of the Tukesbury tomb and lot are on Flickr.
Many thanks to Sara Randall, descendant of the Tukesburys, for the bio information. You can suggest a subterranean celebrity, too! Just send an email—it doesn't take much to make a nice little story. An index of all of our subterranean celebrities is available.
*This monument has not been completely transcribed yet. (If you're looking for a volunteer opportunity, contact us if you’re interested in finishing the inscriptions of the tomb monuments. It would mean spending time in reading markers to confirm or add to the existing transcriptions).
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This is an easy way to give! If you're an Amazon shopper, here's an easy way to support our favorite and the oldest historic Portland, Maine, cemetery:
- Go to smile.amazon.com
- Enter "Spirits Alive" in the box
- Choose the non-profit in Portland, Maine from the list
Voila! A portion of all of your purchases through smile.amazon.com will go to our efforts to support, conserve and promote this historic outdoor museum. Thank you!
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Support the work of Spirits Alive with your giving
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
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We are 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.
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