Portland Black History Walking Tour
Maine's Black community is small, but its history here goes back more than 400 years. On this guided tour, you’ll dive deep into Portland’s Black history, discovering how this community—national leaders, laborers, skilled workers, activists, and more—fought for freedom and equality and defined the state's path. From Frederick Douglass to lesser-known Black Yankees, there’s far more here than meets the eye, and with this tour, you’ll learn all about it.
Highlights
- ✓Follow Portland's #1 guide, per TripAdvisor, across the city
- ✓Explore a historically-Black section of Portland's East End neighborhood with a local guide
- ✓Learn more about Abyssinian Meeting House, Green Memorial Church, Portland Observatory, and more
- ✓Limited to 15 travelers, you'll get a fun, small-group experience
What you'll see & do
- ✓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.
- ✓Discover the hidden Black history that predates slavery in Maine.
- ✓Be surprised by the story of a largely unknown but well-connected international activist from the 19th century hiding in plain sight.
- ✓Hear the complicated history of racial passing at the highest levels in 19th-century Catholic Maine.
- ✓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.
- ✓Portland's maritime history may not be what you think it is. Discover the Black skill and labor too often overlooked.
- ✓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.
- ✓Visit the Black social scene of WWII Portland and meet the important people who came out of that period to impact our lives today.
- ✓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.
- ✓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.
- ✓Find the brave folks who risked federal prosecution by aiding and abetting freedom seekers from the South via the Underground Railroad.
- ✓Marvel at the achievements of a small, tight-knit community, who worked together to improve their lives and the lives of others.
- ✓Learn how important Black Portlanders were to the maritime economy in the age of sail.
- ✓Visit the beating heart of the civil rights movement and hear the stories of the leaders whose impacts are still being felt today.
- ✓Learn the surprising story of the Black minister who convened a community of expatriate Black Americans to rewrite the US Constitution.
What's included
- ✓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
What's not included
- ✓A tip for your guide!
Good to know
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.
Cancellation policy
- •A full refund will apply if you cancel more than 24 hours before the activity start time.
- •No refund is possible if you cancel less than 24 hours before the activity start time.
Portland Black History Walking Tour
Maine's Black community is small, but its history here goes back more than 400 years. On this guided tour, you’ll dive deep into Portland’s Black history, discovering how this community—national leaders, laborers, skilled workers, activists, and more—fought for freedom and equality and defined the state's path. From Frederick Douglass to lesser-known Black Yankees, there’s far more here than meets the eye, and with this tour, you’ll learn all about it.
Highlights
- ✓Follow Portland's #1 guide, per TripAdvisor, across the city
- ✓Explore a historically-Black section of Portland's East End neighborhood with a local guide
- ✓Learn more about Abyssinian Meeting House, Green Memorial Church, Portland Observatory, and more
- ✓Limited to 15 travelers, you'll get a fun, small-group experience
What you'll see & do
- ✓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.
- ✓Discover the hidden Black history that predates slavery in Maine.
- ✓Be surprised by the story of a largely unknown but well-connected international activist from the 19th century hiding in plain sight.
- ✓Hear the complicated history of racial passing at the highest levels in 19th-century Catholic Maine.
- ✓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.
- ✓Portland's maritime history may not be what you think it is. Discover the Black skill and labor too often overlooked.
- ✓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.
- ✓Visit the Black social scene of WWII Portland and meet the important people who came out of that period to impact our lives today.
- ✓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.
- ✓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.
- ✓Find the brave folks who risked federal prosecution by aiding and abetting freedom seekers from the South via the Underground Railroad.
- ✓Marvel at the achievements of a small, tight-knit community, who worked together to improve their lives and the lives of others.
- ✓Learn how important Black Portlanders were to the maritime economy in the age of sail.
- ✓Visit the beating heart of the civil rights movement and hear the stories of the leaders whose impacts are still being felt today.
- ✓Learn the surprising story of the Black minister who convened a community of expatriate Black Americans to rewrite the US Constitution.
What's included
- ✓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
What's not included
- ✓A tip for your guide!
Good to know
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.
Cancellation policy
- •A full refund will apply if you cancel more than 24 hours before the activity start time.
- •No refund is possible if you cancel less than 24 hours before the activity start time.