Portland, Maine: Black History Guided Walking Tour Discount Tickets

5.0
★★★★★ ★★★★★
Based on 171 reviews |
location pin icon Portland, USA
location pin icon Portland
5.0 /5
171 reviews
View all Portland, Maine: Black History Guided Walking Tour photos
View all Portland, Maine: Black History Guided Walking Tour photos

Get your discount tickets for the Portland, Maine: Black History Guided Walking Tour, save up to 9% !

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9% OFF Refundable
Portland Black History Tour
FROM

$49.21

REG. $54.00

Offer details

Duration: 2 hours

Overview

Trace the steps of the Black Portlanders who moved our city, state, and country closer to the ideals of freedom, democracy, opportunity, and equality. Maine’s earliest settlements couldn’t have existed without Black labor, skill, and insight. You'll meet the Black Yankees who founded Maine communities, overturned slavery statewide, drove our maritime industries, gained political influence, crossed color boundaries, and expanded Mainers’ rights in the modern era. Stepping on granite cobblestones crooked with age — that once saw footfalls from national heroes like Frederick Douglass — you’ll pass storefronts once home to Black-owned barbershops where abolitionists whispered intelligence to Underground Railroad conductors. Enjoy 2 hours of entertaining and enlightening historical narration over a 1.5-mile route. Owner and guide, Dugan Murphy, dug through the archives to present an amazing constellation of stories left out of most tours. TripAdvisor named him Portland's #1 guide!

Meeting and Pickup

Meeting point

Meet at the front steps of First Parish Church. Your guide will be holding a sign that says "Portland by the Foot." Check-in time is 10 minutes prior to the scheduled tour time. The church is one half mile from the cruise ship terminal.

End Point

End point

Eastern Cemetery is on Congress Street at the head of Montgomery Street. If you want to get back to where we started, it's an easy, straight shot 0.5 miles (10-minute walk) down Congress Street. It's also 0.5 miles from the cruise ship terminal.

Language Offered

English-GUIDE

Itinerary

1. Downtown
Your guide Dugan will lead you to the locations relevant to Black Mainers and their achievements. We'll trace the steps of the folks who resisted indignity and realized power to move our city, state, and country closer to the ideals of freedom, democracy, opportunity, and equality.
Duration: 50 mins
2. Lobsterman Park
Discover the hidden Black history that predates slavery in Maine.
3. Congress Street
Be surprised by the story of a largely unknown but well-connected international activist from the 19th century hiding in plain sight.
4. The Cathedral Of The Immaculate Conception
Hear the complicated history of racial passing at the highest levels in 19th-century Catholic Maine.
5. Commercial Street
Dugan will guide you to where Black leaders and laborers shaped Portland's waterfront and earned a seat at the table when the odds were against them. We'll honor the Black journalist who decided to leave the US behind and seek self-determination in a newly-founded African nation.
Duration: 20 mins
6. Mariner's Church Banquet Center
Portland's maritime history may not be what you think it is. Discover the Black skill and labor too often overlooked.
7. United States Custom House
Marvel at the architecture and hear how antebellum Black Portland built and wielded political power at a time when the vast majority of Black Americans were denied basic human rights.
8. Bell Buoy Park
Visit the Black social scene of WWII Portland and meet the important people who came out of that period to impact our lives today.
9. Old Port
Follow Dugan through the Old Port to a historically-Black section on the eastern end of the waterfront, uncovering Black history hidden all around us. You'll hear about the people who founded Maine communities, overturned slavery statewide, drove our maritime industries, swung elections, founded houses of worship, crossed color boundaries, and expanded Mainers’ rights in the modern era.
Duration: 50 mins
10. Exchange Street
Learn the story of an enterprising young Black man who forged his own destiny in the legal field despite those who tried to hold him back.
11. India Street
Find the brave folks who risked federal prosecution by aiding and abetting freedom seekers from the South via the Underground Railroad.
12. The Abyssinian Meetinghouse
Marvel at the achievements of a small, tight-knit community, who worked together to improve their lives and the lives of others.
13. Portland Observatory
Learn how important Black Portlanders were to the maritime economy in the age of sail.
14. Green Memorial A.M.E. Zion Church
Visit the beating heart of the civil rights movement and hear the stories of the leaders whose impacts are still being felt today.
15. Eastern Cemetery
Learn the surprising story of the Black minister who convened a community of expatriate Black Americans to rewrite the US Constitution.

Inclusion

10% off water tours with Portland Paddle (instructions at confirmation)

Two hour fully narrated guided tour.

Donation toward restoring the Abyssinian Meeting House, America's third-oldest standing Black church

Exclusion

A tip for your guide!

Cancellation Policy

Check mark icon Refundable tickets

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.

  • 100% refund if cancelled 1+ days before the start date
  • 0% refund if cancelled less than 1 day(s) before the start date

Additional Info

Wheelchair accessible

Infants and small children can ride in a pram or stroller

Service animals allowed

Public transportation options are available nearby

Transportation options are wheelchair accessible

All areas and surfaces are wheelchair accessible

Not recommended for travelers with poor cardiovascular health

Suitable for all physical fitness levels

Pets are not allowed on tours unless medically required.

Portland is a hilly city. Participants will walk uphill sometimes, including a staircase of 17 steps.

Supplied by Portland by the Foot

Reviews

5.0

★★★★★ ★★★★★
Based on 171 reviews

Total reviews and rating from Viator & Tripadvisor

5 stars
170
4 stars
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1
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