Portland, Maine: Black History Guided Walking Tour

4.8

With a small group, trace the steps of Black explorers, mariners, religious leaders, and politicians, over 400 years of Maine history. Follow your local guide through the Old Port and East End.

About this activity

  • Free cancellation

    Cancel up to 24 hours in advance for a full refund

  • Duration

    2 hour

Experience

  • Highlights
    • Journey in time from 1604 to the present day to uncover Maine's Black heritage
    • Discover a small group with an outsized impact in Portland and across the world
    • Step back 200 years to when the wharves were run by Black stevedores
    • Celebrate the political leadership and self-determination of Black Yankees
    • Visit the homes of Black families who ran the Underground Railroad
  • Full description
    Wind through the brick sidewalks and cobblestone streets of Portland's Old Port and working waterfront on this guided walking tour. Immerse yourself in the rich story of the 19th-century Black community in the East End neighborhood. The group will include no more than 15 people, so there's plenty of room to interact and ask questions.

    Meet your local guide at the First Parish Church, Portland's oldest church, and begin your journey back in time. Discover the monuments, places of business, and civic institutions where Black Yankees drove the economy and organized for political power. The air here still lingers with the notes of sea shanty songs, the crackle of rope from cargo hoisted aboard ships creaking in the waters of Casco Bay, and the myriad accents of Black sailors arriving from the Caribbean and Canadian...  more
  • Includes
    • Guide
      Donation to the restoration of the Abyssinian Meeting House
      10% off water tours with Portland Paddle (instructions at confirmation)
  • Exclude
    • Gratuities