Abyssinian Meetinghouse

Meet your local guide, a history lover who will bring the stories and facts from Portland’s past alive throughout the tour. Starting on Commercial Street, walk through the cobble stone streets of the historic Old Port, downtown, and waterfront areas.  Some of the locations that may be featured as part of the tour include the lobster statue, the home of Henry Wadsworth-Longfellow, the Eastern cemetery, the Abyssinian Church, and more. Your tour will finish on a sweet note with a local treat.

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 Black community in the East End neighborhood. 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. 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 19-century up to the present day. 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 400 years of Black history. Printed images of the past together with gifted storytelling will bring the past to life. Hear the stories that usually get left out of history tours. A portion of every ticket sale will help fund the restoration of the Abyssinian Meeting House, Maine's oldest and America's third-oldest Black church. End your tour at the Maine Jewish Museum, less than a half-mile from where it began.