Eastern Cemetery spreads out where Washington Avenue meets Congress Street, in the Munjoy Hill neighborhood of Portland, Maine. Established in 1668, this is the city's oldest historic site. Beneath your feet lie more than 4,000 marked graves and an estimated further 3,000 burials in unmarked plots; generations of Portlanders share this seven-acre, roughly triangular place.
It sits on the northeastern part of the Portland peninsula at the base of Munjoy Hill, bounded on the north by Congress Street, on the east by Mountfort Street, and on the south by Federal Street. The sloping lot meets street level only along Congress and part of Mountfort; elsewhere it is held up by a stone retaining wall. Iron fencing rings the street-facing sides; the main entrance gates stand on Congress Street.
The city of Portland owns the cemetery, and since 2006 the volunteer nonprofit Spirits Alive has cared for it, dedicated to protection and preservation through conservation and education. Spirits Alive offers daily walking tours from June through mid-October, inviting you to learn the stories carved here. Notice the main entrance gates on Congress Street, and the stone wall that supports this historic, sloping ground.