The Western Cemetery is an urban

cemetery A cemetery, burial ground, gravesite or graveyard is a place where the remains of dead people are buried or otherwise interred. The word ''cemetery'' (from Greek , "sleeping place") implies that the land is specifically designated as a buri ...

Portland, Maine Portland is the largest city in the U.S. state of Maine and the seat of Cumberland County. Portland's population was 68,408 in April 2020. The Greater Portland metropolitan area is home to over half a million people, the 104th-largest metropol ...

, United States. At one time Portland's home for the "poor and indigent", the cemetery is named for its location in city's West End neighborhood and proximity to the

Western Promenade The Western Promenade is a historic promenade, an public park and recreation area in the West End neighborhood of Portland, Maine. Developed between 1836 and the early 20th century, it is one Portland's oldest preserved spaces, with landscapin ...

. Founded in the 18th century, the land was acquired by the city in 1829. In 1841, the city expanded the cemetery to its present . The Western Cemetery was Portland's primary cemetery from 1829 to 1852, when Evergreen Cemetery was established in the suburb of Deering. It was an active cemetery until 1910. In October 2003, the cemetery began a restoration and reconstruction project was run by the Stewards of the Western Cemetery and the City of Portland and funded with municipal funds.Greater Portland Graves
/ref>

Desecrations and disorganization

The Western Cemetery is known for a large number of grave desecrations and general disorganization; for example, from July 1, 1988 to August 1, 1989, an estimated 1,942 tombs were desecrated. Likewise, it is unknown how many burials have taken place in the cemetery, though author William Jordan estimated 6,600. A plan was laid out in 1840, but the document was destroyed in the 1866 Great Fire alongside much of the city. A number of tombs have been opened with no contents found inside; for example the Longfellow tomb, home to the parents of Portland resident

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (February 27, 1807 – March 24, 1882) was an American poet and educator. His original works include "Paul Revere's Ride", ''The Song of Hiawatha'', and ''Evangeline''. He was the first American to completely transl ...

, was opened and nothing was found inside, with no record of what happened to those entombed there.Maine's coastal cemeteries: a historic tour
by Karen Wentworth Batignani, 2003 via Google Books

Old Catholic Ground

The Old Catholic Ground is an area in the cemetery used for Catholics, mainly (Irish) immigrants who arrived in the community in the early to mid 19th century, and for those who fled the

Great Hunger The Great Famine ( ga, an Gorta Mór ), also known within Ireland as the Great Hunger or simply the Famine and outside Ireland as the Irish Potato Famine, was a period of starvation and disease in Ireland from 1845 to 1852 that constituted a h ...

from 1845 to 1852. People were buried in the Catholic section of the cemetery because there was no stand alone Catholic burial place in the community prior to 1858. The Catholic section is also known for headstones containing references to the names of counties in Ireland, and is built on what used to be known as Brown's Hill. From 1858 through the 1870s, several dozen Catholic burials were removed from Western Cemetery and reinterred at the new Catholic Cemetery name
Calvary Cemetery
in South Portland, Maine when it opened in 1858. Calvary Cemetery is operated by th
Diocese
In 1999, the Ancient Order of Hibernians, Division I, erected a stone marking the area as the Catholic Ground, and commemorating those who perished during, or fled from The Great Hunger (An Gorta Mór). Portland Maine Irish Great Hunger Memorial

Portland Maine Irish Great Hunger Memorial

Notable burials

* John Neal, eccentric and influential 19th-century writer, critic, and lecturer *

Elijah Kellogg Elijah Kellogg, Jr. (May 20, 1813 – March 17, 1901) was an American Congregationalist minister, lecturer and author of popular boy's adventure books. Professional life Born in Portland, Maine, Kellogg was the son of a minister and mi ...

, Congregationalist minister,

lecturer Lecturer is an List of academic ranks, academic rank within many universities, though the meaning of the term varies somewhat from country to country. It generally denotes an academic expert who is hired to teach on a full- or part-time basis. T ...

and author of popular boy's adventure books. *

Samuel Longfellow Samuel Longfellow (1819–1892) was an American clergyman and hymn writer. Biography Samuel Longfellow was born June 18, 1819, in Portland, Maine, the last of eight children of Stephen Longfellow, Stephen and Zilpah (Wadsworth) Longfellow. His o ...

, clergyman and hymn writer. *

Stephen Longfellow Stephen Longfellow (March 23, 1776 – August 2, 1849) was a U.S. Representative from Maine. Biography Born in Gorham in the Province of Massachusetts Bay (in what is now Maine) to Stephen Longfellow and Patience Young Longfellow, Longfellow ...

, Congressman from Massachusetts, father of

* Prentiss Mellen, First Chief Justice of the Maine Supreme Court

Desecrations and disorganization

Old Catholic Ground

Notable burials

References

Further reading