The Eastern Promenade (Eastern Prom) is a historic

promenade An esplanade or promenade is a long, open, level area, usually next to a river or large body of water, where people may walk. The historical definition of ''esplanade'' was a large, open, level area outside fortification, fortress or city walls ...

, public park and recreation area in

Portland, Maine Portland is the List of municipalities in Maine, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maine and the county seat, seat of Cumberland County, Maine, Cumberland County. Portland's population was 68,408 at the 2020 census. The Portland metropolit ...

. Construction of the Promenade began in 1836 and continued periodically until 1934. The park was designed by the

Olmsted Brothers The Olmsted Brothers company was a Landscape architecture, landscape architectural firm in the United States, established in 1898 by brothers John Charles Olmsted (1852–1920) and Frederick Law Olmsted Jr. (1870–1957), sons of the landscape ar ...

design firm and experienced its greatest expansion from the 1880s to the 1910s. The Promenade rings around the

Munjoy Hill Munjoy Hill is a neighborhood and prominent geographical feature of Portland, Maine. It is located east of downtown and south of East Deering. In the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, the neighborhood had a large Irish and Italian American po ...

neighborhood and occupies the farthest eastern portion of Portland's peninsula. The Promenade is home to many historical sites, including a

mass grave A mass grave is a grave containing multiple human corpses, which may or may Unidentified decedent, not be identified prior to burial. The United Nations has defined a criminal mass grave as a burial site containing three or more victims of exec ...

and the mast of . The promenade was regenerated by Charles R. Goodell in 1878.

Recreation

The Eastern Promenade includes a number of recreational facilities, including a paved trail in length, the East End Beach, and sports facilities including baseball fields, basketball courts and tennis courts. The Eastern Prom Trail is popular with bicyclists.

Fort Allen Park

Fort Allen Park is a public park on the Eastern Promenade. It is the site of Fort Allen, which was active in the Revolutionary War and War of 1812; only a few earthworks remain. The park is home to an

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

monument in the form of a granite bench dedicated in 1929. It honors the Union Army. Fort Allen Park is also the home of the mast of , a

heavy cruiser A heavy cruiser was a type of cruiser, a naval warship designed for long range and high speed, armed generally with naval guns of roughly 203 mm (8 inches) in calibre, whose design parameters were dictated by the Washington Naval Treat ...

commissioned by the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

in 1933. ''Portland'' was the only United States ship to participate in all four Pacific aircraft carrier battles of 1942:

Coral Sea The Coral Sea () is a marginal sea of the Pacific Ocean, South Pacific off the northeast coast of Australia, and classified as an Interim Biogeographic Regionalisation for Australia, interim Australian bioregion. The Coral Sea extends down t ...

in May, Midway in June, Eastern Solomons in August, and

Santa Cruz Islands The Santa Cruz Islands form an archipelago in Temotu Province, Solomon Islands. They lie approximately to the southeast of the Solomon Islands (archipelago), Solomon Islands archipelago, just north of the archipelago of Vanuatu and are con ...

in October. ''Portland'' was then damaged during the

Naval Battle of Guadalcanal The Naval Battle of Guadalcanal took place from 12 to 15 November 1942 and was the decisive engagement in a series of naval battles between Allies of World War II, Allied (primarily American) and Imperial Japanese Armed Forces, Imperial Japan ...

in November.

1812 Cemetery

In December 1812, following the

Battle of Queenston Heights The Battle of Queenston Heights was the first major engagement of the War of 1812. The battle took place on 13 October 1812 at Queenston in Upper Canada (now Ontario) and was a decisive British victory. United States regulars and New York (state ...

during the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 was fought by the United States and its allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom and its allies in North America. It began when the United States United States declaration of war on the Uni ...

, , a British ship, docked under a truce flag in Portland's harbor en route from

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

Boston, Massachusetts Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

, due to the presence of fever, malnutrition and dysentery among the American

prisoners of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of war for a ...

on board. 26 of the prisoners were taken to the local hospital and a month later, 21 of the prisoners had died. The dead soldiers were buried in a mass grave at the foot of Quebec Street on the Eastern Promenade, with a large boulder marking the spot of their grave. In 1887, a bronze plaque was affixed to the stone with the names of the deceased.

Public transportation

Greater Portland Metro's route 1 ( Congress Street) serves the Eastern Promenade.

References

{{Portland, Maine Parks in Portland, Maine Bike paths in Maine Streets in Portland, Maine Munjoy Hill Cemeteries in Portland, Maine Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Maine National Register of Historic Places in Portland, Maine Frederick Law Olmsted works 1836 establishments in Maine Parks established in the 19th century

Recreation

Fort Allen Park

1812 Cemetery

Public transportation

See also

References