Portland, Maine: Black History Guided Walking Tour – Portland, Maine

EXPERIENCE

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 provinces.

Head to the East End neighborhood to see the homes of Black sailors and stevedores that served as stations on the Underground Railroad. Admire the churches where Black families worshipped, celebrated, and learned together from the 19th century up to the present day. Step on granite cobblestones crooked with age that once saw footfalls from national heroes like Frederick Douglass.

Learn how Maine’s earliest colonial settlements could not have survived without Black insight, skill, and labor. Uncover the story behind the enslaved Black maid who abolished slavery in Maine during the Revolutionary War.

Discover the exceptional figures who shaped Portland and the State of Maine over more than 400 years of Black leadership. Printed images of the past, together with gifted storytelling, bring the past to life. Hear the stories that other history tours omit.

A portion of every ticket sale will help fund the restoration of the Abyssinian Meeting House, Maine’s oldest and America’s third-oldest standing Black church. End your tour at Eastern Cemetery, one-half mile from where it began.

Entertainer-historian Dugan Murphy leads unforgettable jaunts through his hometown, telling an inclusive, empowering, and surprising constellation of tales you won’t hear on other tours. Maine Historical Society likes him so much, they made him their official tour partner. Find out why Tripadvisor named him Maine’s #1 tour guide!

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

Discover more exciting & fun things to do in Portland