Western Cemetery (Portland, Maine)

The Western Cemetery is an urban cemetery located in the West End neighborhood of Portland, Maine, near the Western Promenade. It served as Portland’s primary municipal burial ground from 1829 until 1852, when Evergreen Cemetery was established in the then-separate town of Deering.

The land was officially acquired by the city in 1829 and expanded in 1841 to its current size of 12 acres (4.9 ha). The design of lots and circulation paths was created by civil engineer James Hall in 1840. Western Cemetery remained active until 1910 and contains an estimated 6,600 marked and unmarked graves.

While one section of the cemetery was designated for the burial of the indigent, Western Cemetery served a wide range of Portland’s population. Burials include Revolutionary and Civil War veterans, Irish immigrants, African American residents—including leaders of the historic Abyssinian Meeting House—and other prominent citizens. Some families later relocated remains to Evergreen Cemetery when space became limited, but many original burials remain.

Its main entrance, the Daveis Memorial Gate, was added in 1914 and designed by noted Maine architect John Calvin Stevens.

In October 2003, the cemetery began a restoration and reconstruction project overseen by the City of Portland in partnership with the Stewards of the Western Cemetery, and funded with municipal resources.

The Western Cemetery was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2025.