Tour Season

Our guided tour season starts next week—complete with careful adherence to COVID-19 regulations to keep you all safe.

June 1 to October 13, 2021
Daily at 4:00pm

Join us on a guided walk through the cemetery and hear stories of those interred, a history of the design and shape of gravestones, and how the site fits into the formation of Portland, Maine. If you can’t make 4:00pm, but would still like a tour, let us know!

FMI: Walking Tours

Moving Remains

Cemetery historian Ron Romano has spent part of his pandemic life working on a large project: documenting those who were buried in Eastern Cemetery then disinterred and moved to another one. He analyzed burial records, vital records, and other information to create a list of more than 650 people who were moved. Some went with their markers, and some did not. Learn more about this well-documented and unique information!

FMI: Removals from Eastern Cemetery

Subterranean Celebrity: John Mussey

Died 1817

John Mussey’s family wanted the world to know about his burial history. Mussey was a prominent banker and town leader. He died at the age of 72 in 1823. He was initially buried at Eastern Cemetery in Tomb A-80 that he had purchased in 1817 and adorned with a large granite block inscribed with his name. Nearly 50 years later, he and others from his family were removed from Eastern and reburied at their new large family lot at Evergreen in Portland. The original Mussey monument from Eastern Cemetery is found there today and tells the story as it reads:

JOHN MUSSEY
EASTERN CEMETERY 1817
REMOVED TO THIS SPOT 1871

Special thanks to Ron Romano for this bit on John Mussey. Read more about removals from Eastern Cemetery on our website.

You can suggest a subterranean celebrity! 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.

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.