Master Plan for Eastern Cemetery, City of Portland, Maine
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MASTER PLAN FOR EASTERN CEMETERY, CITY OF PORTLAND, MAINE Chicora Research Contribution 534 The cover photos compare the monument of Admiral James Alden ca. 1930, taken by Mr. William Jordan (courtesy of the Maine Historical Society), to the monument today. Although taken from a different angle these, and similar historic photographs, document the extraordinary loss of monuments in the cemetery over the past 70 years. MASTER PLAN FOR EASTERN CEMETERY CITY OF PORTLAND, MAINE Prepared By: Michael Trinkley, Ph.D. and Debi Hacker Prepared For: Spirits Alive PO Box 18209 Portland, ME 04112 CHICORA RESEARCH CONTRIBUTION 534 Chicora Foundation, Inc. PO Box 8664 Columbia, SC 29202 803-787-6910 www.chicora.org March 1, 2011 This report is printed on permanent paper ∞ © 2011 by Chicora Foundation, Inc. and Spirits Alive. If adopted by the City of Portland this copyright will be extended to the City of Portland, Maine. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, transmitted, or transcribed in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without prior permission of Chicora Foundation, Inc. or Spirits Alive except for brief quotations used in reviews. Full credit must be given to the authors, publisher, and project sponsor. MANAGEMENT SUMMARY This study was funded by Spirits Alive Spirits Alive, the survival of the Cemetery requires and the field investigations were conducted by the City of Portland to accept its ethical and legal Chicora Foundation from November 16 through obligation to care for its property. 21, 2010. Report production followed immediately afterwards. The maintenance the Cemetery has received over its long life has been too tenuous The study examines the oldest of and sporadic to justify the term. Problems include Portland’s burial grounds, called Eastern the decaying hardscape, such as the fences and Cemetery and situated at the eastern end of the walls; the care given to the landscape, including coastal city. This burial ground dates to at least the failure to provide even minimally adequate the early eighteenth century and likely earlier. The lawn care; and the upkeep of the below grade 6.8 acre parcel was expanded from the original tombs. small burial ground over the years. Approximately 3 acres were acquired in 1795 by the town of The Cemetery, listed on the National Falmouth from its owner, the Rev. Thomas Smith. Register, is clearly being subjected to what has become known as demolition through neglect – The research included an examination of the process of actively allowing a historic resource available historical resources with the goal of to deteriorate to the point that it loses historic creating a synthesis of the Cemetery’s history, integrity. building on the early work by William B. Jordan, Jr. The current work made extensive use of city The Cemetery, by all accounts, is documents and newspapers, and provides periodically taken over by trespassers engaged in additional information concerning the City’s illegal activities. This creates a situation where sporadic – and often minimal – efforts to maintain legitimate visitation is discouraged and the the Cemetery. Cemetery is further damaged. Allowing such activities is yet another aspect of the demolition The majority of the problems activities de facto permitted by the City of documented at Eastern Cemetery fall into one of Portland. three primary categories: Vandalism is the third significant • Inadequate maintenance, problem, both in the past and continuing today, • Pervasive homelessness and trespassing, albeit to a reduced level. This may be associated and with homelessness and trespassing, but since it is • Vandalism. not being adequately documented it is difficult to identify the actors. All three have been ongoing for generations as the owner of the burial ground has ignored and The City must make administrative neglected the problems. changes in the way the Cemetery is operated and in the ordinances that govern the property. The In spite of the herculean efforts of private Cemetery requires caregivers to give careful citizens such as William Jordan and more recently i MASTER PLAN FOR EASTERN CEMETERY, PORTLAND, MAINE attention to the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for Preservation. Most fundamentally, it is critical that the Cemetery have a solid, permanent funding base. The requirements of Cemetery maintenance do not change based on political vagaries or economic forecasts. In fact, the funding requirements only increase with age. This report evaluates all of the identified needs, classifying them into three broad categories: • Those issues that are so critical – typically reflecting broad administrative issues, health and safety issues, and issues that if delayed will result in significantly greater costs – that require immediate attention. These actions should be accomplished in 2011. • Those issues that, while significant and reflecting on-going deterioration and concerns, can be spread over the next 2 to 3 years (i.e., 2012-2014). This allows some budgeting flexibility, but this flexibility should not be misconstrued as a reason to ignore the seriousness of the issues. • Finally, those issues that represent on- going maintenance and preservation issues. These costs can be spread over the following three years (i.e., 2015-2017). Like the Second Priority issues, this budgetary flexibility should not be interpreted as allowing these issues to slide since further delay will only increase the cost of necessary actions. We acknowledge that these goals will be costly. Nevertheless, the City has deferred responsibility and care for generations – it is now time to ensure that this early Portland cemetery is appropriately preserved for future generations. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS List of Figures v List of Tables vii Introduction 1 The Project 1 Portland 2 Why Preserve? 3 Preservation or Restoration? 4 Preservation Fundamentals 5 Past Preservation Efforts in Portland 7 Administrative and Legal Issues 7 The Cemetery, Its Setting, and Context 10 Factors Affecting the Landscape Character 14 Brief Consideration of the Cultural Landscape 17 Recommendations 20 Historic Synopsis 21 Early History 21 Eighteenth Century 23 Nineteenth Century 28 Twentieth Century 45 Summary 61 Road and Pedestrian Issues 65 Vehicular Access and Circulation 65 Pedestrian Access, Sidewalks and Pathways 67 Universal Access 68 Recommendations 69 Security Issues 71 Vandalism 71 Options to Minimize Vandalism 72 Security Fencing 77 Vandalism Records 78 Dealing with the Homeless 78 Recommendations 79 Cemetery Fixtures and Furnishings 81 Cemetery Buildings 81 Congress Street Fence 82 Mountfort Street Fence and Wall 87 North School Fence 88 Federal Street Wall 88 Chain Link Fences 90 iii City Receiving Tomb 91 Private Tombs 94 Other Amenities 98 Cemetery Flagpole 99 Recommendations 99 Landscape Maintenance 101 Landscape Setting 101 Staffing 103 Cemetery Trees 105 Shrubbery 110 Turfgrass Issues 111 Erosion 119 Recommendations 119 Other Maintenance Issues 121 Trash 121 Signage 123 Recommendations 125 Conservation Issues 127 Standard for Conservation Work 127 General Types of Stone Damage 128 Stone Replacement 133 Displaced Stones 133 Cleaning of Monuments 133 Wear and Erosion of Monuments 134 Ironwork Conservation 135 Recommendations 136 Priorities and Funding Levels 137 Recommended Priorities 137 Funding Issues 138 Conservation Costs 142 Sources Cited 151 iv LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1. Location of Portland in Maine 1 2. City of Portland and the surrounding area 2 3. Portland’s historic districts and sites 8 4. Property map showing Eastern Cemetery and adjacent tracts 10 5. Zoning in the vicinity of Eastern Cemetery 11 6. Topographic map of the cemetery 11 7. Neighborhoods around Eastern Cemetery 12 8. Reported crimes in the vicinity of Eastern Cemetery 13 9. Overview of Eastern Cemetery 14 10. Granite area of the Portland vicinity 15 11. Palmer Drought Index for Maine 16 12. Plant Hardiness Zone for southern Maine 16 13. pH levels of rain in northern New England 17 14. Chloride levels in northern New England 17 15. Pathway running down slope from Funeral Lane 18 16. Map of Eastern Cemetery prepared by Jordan 19 17. “Ancient Falmouth, from 1630 to 1690” 21 18. “Coast of Maine” in 1776 22 19. “Town of Falmouth Burnt by Captain Moet” in 1775 23 20. “Falmouth Neck” in 1775 24 21. Metes and bounds of the 1795 deed for Smith’s property 24 22. Property map of Portland showing Eastern Cemetery 25 23. “Plan of Old Portland” showing the “Old Battery” 28 24. “Map of the City of Portland” in 1836 31 25. Portion of the 1852 Walling “Map of Portland” 33 26. Portion of the 1858 “Plan of Portland” 34 27. Plan of Evergreen Cemetery 35 28. Forest City Cemetery in 1871 35 29. Portion of Bufford’s “Great Fire of Portland – 1866” 37 30. Portion of the 1858 “Plan of Portland” overlaid on a modern plan of the cemetery 38 31. Eastern Cemetery in 1876 39 32. Plan of Eastern Cemetery by William A. Goodwin in 1890 40 33. Portion of Plate 20 of the 1882 Portland Revaluation Map 43 34. 1880 plat of Federal Street 44 35. Enterprise and Boxer tombs from 1900, 1910, and today 46 36. Board fence between the cemetery and North School about 1915 47 37. Eastern Cemetery in 1914 48 38. Documented funding levels at Eastern Cemetery, 1848-1949 50 39. Aerial photograph of Eastern Cemetery in 1956 51 40. Oblique aerial photograph of Eastern Cemetery in 1961 51 41. Eastern Cemetery in the early 1960s 52 42. Photographs from the Longfellow Garden Club restoration 54 43. Plan associated with the 1987-1988 fence repair 57 44. The tool shed prior to the 1987 restoration 58 45. Drawing of tombs in Eastern Cemetery 59 v 46. Landscape plan of Eastern Cemetery developed by Hosmer 60 47. Entrance gates to Eastern Cemetery 65 48. Funeral Lane looking southwest 66 49. Pathway in Eastern Cemetery 67 50.