Western Cemetery

Beautiful grounds and countless interesting historic headstones. A number of War of 1812 veterans for instance. A great place for a long walk.

I really wish they would have planted a short grass instead of letting the long blue stem grass grow. Might have made more space for wildflowers too. It's very hard to see gravestones within the density of it all

I wish this historic cemetery to be more aesthetic. Now I think it looks a bit creepy because it was not well maintained. The grass are too long.

Kind of a wistful, forlorn, yet beautiful place. Unfortunately the headstones aren't very well maintained, but the cemetery is still a peaceful place to walk along the Western Promenade. Gorgeous homes along the route - absolutely stunning collection of several architectural styles. Nice place to spend the morning.

An awesome Place for a walk or a book. Stop and say hello to the legendary Mary Morse.

Beautiful historic cemetery located on the west end of Portland Maine near the western promenade. Great place to walk around (grab a coffee and relax, have a conversation/ catch up with an old or new friend, family member or co- worker, etc) and view the historic graves of a great and beautiful city

Nice paths. Some good stones but are very weathered. You can also see the remnants of the vandalism in the late 80s but it's a nice walk.

Great place to go for a walk and take some photos!

Spooky atmosphere. I really like the history and tale of time as you pass through rows of graves from the 1800's-1900's. Sadly, time has not been kind to some graves and many gravestones are virtual unreadable, making one wonder who those lost souls were. Thankfully, there appears to be a volunteer staff that cleans up the graveyard and does their best to keep the gravestones up and the graveyard clean. Was one homeless man walking around but he left us alone, otherwise we had the place all to ourselves. Definitely worth a visit. Not far from downtown and an east outing for a walk. (Eastern Cemetery was closed every time I tried to go, but Western was seemed just as good.)

I am a frequenter of cemeteries. I have always been drawn to them. There is so much history within the walls. I love taking walks in cemeteries and have done so for quite awhile. Now usually, I like to haunt Evergreen (and many others), but I had never checked Western Cemetery out...until now. I have received a tour of the Eastern Cemetery, which was very interesting and also told a bit about how the Western Cemetery got started. Since the reviewer before me laid out the history, I won't rewrite it here, but I will say, this cemetery is well worth the visit. There is so much history here with tombstones dating back to the early 1800s. It overlooks part of the bay on the west side, and has a unique landscape about it (lots of pine trees, and little paths, but also while being out in the open - relatively?). It's hard to explain the landscape, but it is a very enjoyable walk, and it is rarely ever busy. I will say, I came across condom wrappers and beer cans on my walk, which is not uncommon, but I don't ever see that sort of thing at Evergreen or other cemeteries, so I would tread lightly at night at this particular one!

An old graveyard with mysteries Western Cemetery is the second oldest graveyard in Portland. The land was bought by the town back in 1829 but many of the graves are said to go back much further than that. The cemetery was used mainly in the middle 1800's and was finally closed to new arrivals in 1910. It's old and it definitely looks and feels ancient. The cemetery was restored and fixed up in 2003 but still looks pretty scruffy and neglected. Many of the old gravestones are lying on there sides or learning over and the weeds are growing everywhere. The old graveyard has lots of stories around it. Some true and some hopefully not true. A witch is supposed buried here but records indicated it was really a holy man that happen to have a strange memorial. Legends has it if you stand on this grave during a full moon your soul will be sucked away. I tend to doubt that one. However some of the old tombs were opened during the restoration and curiously many were found to be completely empty with no bodies or remains inside. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's parents were buried here in a fancy tomb. However when the tomb was opened absolutely nothing was found inside. Nobody has any idea what happened to all the bodies. A spooky, strange and very, very old graveyard. Lots of history and mysteries surround this place. A cool place to take a walk and feel and sense the distant past and weird things that are difficult to describe. A place best avoided at night, especially nights when the full moon is out.