Evergreen Cemetery (Portland, Maine)

Evergreen Cemetery
Entrance from Stevens Avenue
Location 672 Stevens Ave.
Portland, Maine
Coordinates 43°40′54″N 70°18′4″W / 43.68167°N 70.30111°W / 43.68167; -70.30111Coordinates: 43°40′54″N 70°18′4″W / 43.68167°N 70.30111°W / 43.68167; -70.30111
Area 239 acres (97 ha) (cemetery size)
140 acres (57 ha) (National Register listing size)
Built 1855
Architect Charles R. Goodell; Frederick A. Tompson
NRHP reference # 92000791[1]
Added to NRHP June 18, 1992
Evergreen Cemetery
Details
Established 1855
Location Portland, Maine
Country United States
Owned by City of Portland
Size 239 acres (97 ha)
No. of graves ~60,000-70,000
Find a Grave Evergreen Cemetery

Evergreen Cemetery is a garden style cemetery in the Deering neighborhood of Portland, Maine, United States. With 239 acres (97 ha) of land, it is the largest cemetery in the state.[2] Established in 1855 in what was then Westbrook, the cemetery is home to one of the state's most impressive collections of funerary art. The 140-acre (57 ha) historical portion of the cemetery was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1992.[1]

Description and history

Evergreen Cemetery is located in the central portion of Deering, the large western section of Portland, on the west side of Stevens Avenue, a major north-south artery. The main areas of the cemetery are laid out in with winding curvilinear paths, typical of the rural cemetery movement popular in the 19th century, while later sections of the cemetery are typically (but not entirely) laid out in a more rectilinear fashion. A number of architecturally significant mausoleums are located in the cemetery, the most prominent of which are the Chisholm Tomb and the F.O.J. Smith Tomb; the latter is a small-scale Classical Revival replica of the Maison Carrée, a Roman temple in Nîmes, France.[3]

The cemetery was established in 1855 in Saccarappa (Westbrook) and became the area's main cemetery after the Western Cemetery. The original parcel appears to have been about 45 acres (18 ha), which was repeatedly enlarged beginning about 1869.[3] As of March 2011, only 110 acres (45 ha) were used for cemetery-related activities.[4] The cemetery holds the records for Forest City Cemetery in South Portland. In April 2014, it was announced the cemetery would add an additional 800 to 1,000 gravesites near the main entrance while also adding a columbarium, which will hold cremated remains above ground. An estimated 60,000 to 70,000 people are interred in the cemetery.[5]

Wilde Memorial Chapel

The Wilde Memorial Chapel at Evergreen Cemetery in Portland, ME, USA.

Wilde Memorial Chapel is a Gothic-style chapel. It was built as a mortuary chapel by Falmouth native Mary Ellen Lunt Wilde in 1890. It was designed by Portland architect Frederick A. Tompson and gifted to the city in 1902.[6] The granite building is used for both memorial and wedding services, with a maximum capacity of 105.[7]

Civil War veterans

Evergreen Cemetery contains the remains of about 1,400 veterans of the American Civil War.[8] A memorial to Civil War veterans was donated by brothers Henry and Nathan Cleaves and dedicated on May 30, 1895.[8] The monument consists of a metal soldier standing atop a granite base.

Notable interments

See also

Notes

  1. 1 2 National Park Service (2009-03-13). "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service.
  2. ↑ "Evergreen Cemetery, Portland, 1869". Retrieved 29 July 2013.
  3. 1 2 "NRHP nomination for Evergreen Cemetery". National Park Service. Retrieved 2015-12-04.
  4. ↑ Portland cemetery's plans would uproot gardeners Portland Press Herald, March 22, 2011
  5. ↑ Miller, Kevin (April 14, 2014). "Portland plans expansion of Evergreen Cemetery". Portland Press Herald. Retrieved 14 April 2014.
  6. ↑ Wilde Memorial Chapel Friends of Evergreen Cemetery.
  7. ↑ Portland Maine Public Service site: Wilde Chapel
  8. 1 2 Swartz, Brian (4 September 2014). "Meet the Heroes of Evergreen Cemetery: Part II". Maine at War: Maine and the Civil War. Retrieved 13 June 2017.
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