Portland Black History Guided Walking Tour

The journey, in full

In the iconic Old Port, you’ll uncover Black history hidden all around you. Stepping on granite cobblestones crooked with age — that once saw footfalls from national heroes like Frederick Douglass — you'll pass landmarks like boutique storefronts once home to Black-owned barbershops where abolitionists whispered intelligence to Underground Railroad conductors. The air here still lingers with the notes of a longshoreman's sea shanty, the crackle of rope from cargo hoisted aboard ships creaking in the waters of Casco Bay, and the myriad accents of Black sailors arriving from the Caribbean and eastern Canadian provinces. Seated between the wharves and the country's only remaining maritime observatory, you'll visit one of Portland's historically Black neighborhoods, where modest wooden homes and businesses encircled a joyful, close-knit community in the 19th century. As you explore off the beaten path, you'll almost hear the sounds of children playing, voices raised in song, and passionate speeches of politicians and activists organizing for self-determination and greater freedoms for all.