"That rope used to hold a bell and in the old days, they didn't embalm people so when they got out of the casket, they would pull the bell if they ended up alive." That's how Hope Cemetery Superintendent Tom Litchfield described a rope hanging from the ceiling of the cemetery's receiving tomb, as reported this month by The Local News.
It makes a good Halloween story, and it fits the week. On Saturday, costumed interpreters will lead groups through the same grounds for the Brick Store Museum's 23rd annual All Souls' Walk. Most people know Hope Cemetery as the green stretch along Main Street that they drive past on Route 1. It also does a lot of practical work for a place that looks so quiet. It holds the dead through the winter, it serves as the stage for one of the town's longest-running fall traditions, and it's the gateway to about two miles of trails that are open every day of the year. All three of those jobs are in the news this fall.
A granite room built for winter
The receiving tomb stands near the main entrance. The Local News reports it was built in 1904, while the cemetery's own history gives 1905 and says it replaced an earlier tomb from 1863. Its job is simple and seasonal. When the ground freezes and burials can't happen, caskets wait inside until spring. Litchfield told The Local News the tomb can hold as many as 19 people from mid-December to April, and it serves other area cemeteries as well as Hope.
A century of Maine winters has worn it down. The Town of Kennebunk and the Hope Cemetery Corporation received a $29,900 grant from the Maine Historic Preservation Commission to repair it. The granite blocks along the exterior walls need to be reset and anchored, because groundwater and repeated freezing and thawing have caused structural problems. The grant also pays to replace the interior concrete floor, which is deteriorating. The money comes from the Historic Preservation Fund and the National Park Service, and the Maine Historic Preservation Commission administers it.
The schedule matters here. According to the news release, work is expected to start later this fall and finish in spring 2027. That means the repair runs through the same months the tomb is normally in use.
Louise Spang, president of the Hope Cemetery Corporation, said in the news release quoted by The Local News that the project "is an excellent example of how partnerships between the town, Hope Cemetery Corporation, and state and federal historic preservation organizations can help protect Kennebunk's historic resources for future generations." The federal and state money makes sense once you know the cemetery sits inside the Kennebunk Historic District, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The grounds were designed to be walked
Hope Cemetery opened in 1817 as a central, permanent burial ground for the town. Some families then moved relatives there from older burial grounds. The Local News reports that one of the earliest recorded reinterments was Hannah March Storer, who died in 1790. She was the widow of Col. Joseph Storer, a Revolutionary War veteran, and her son moved her remains to Hope.
The Hope Cemetery Corporation's history page describes how the cemetery grew from a small parcel owned by John Low into a rural, garden-style landscape. Main Yard Division I is laid out as a modified ellipse around a central focal point. Division II uses curving lanes and plantings arranged around a flower-shaped focal point made by four Parsons family graves. Later sections mix straight rows, curving paths, distinctive plantings and family plots. The Hillside section has young trees in straight lines next to a wildflower meadow and woods.
Today the cemetery covers 30 acres. It was laid out for people to walk through, and the Brick Store Museum has been doing exactly that with an audience for 23 years.
Saturday's walk, by the numbers
The All Souls' Walk takes groups through Hope Cemetery & Woods to "meet" figures from Kennebunk's past. The museum says the stories "range from funny, to sad, to passionate, to mystifying" and calls the walk "not too spooky," so it's a reasonable outing for families with younger kids.
| Detail | All Souls' Walk 2026 |
|---|---|
| Date | Saturday, October 24 |
| Tour departures | Every 15 minutes, noon to 3 p.m.; last tour leaves at 3 p.m. |
| Length | About 75 minutes, roughly half a mile |
| Price | $20 per ticket |
| Member discount | Does not apply to this event |
| Presenting sponsor | Maine Community Bank |
| Tickets | brickstoremuseum.org or (207) 985-4802 |
The Local News reports that the museum encourages advance registration because tickets sell out. The ticket page lists the venue as the Brick Store Museum at 117 Main Street. If you're unsure where your group gathers, call the museum before Saturday.
Museum Director Cynthia Walker told The Local News that October "is organically a month that a lot of people start thinking about the past," which is why the museum schedules so much programming in it. This year's lineup started on October 10 with a new Voices of Evergreen Cemetery Tour at Evergreen Cemetery. With that tour already over, Saturday's walk at Hope is the remaining cemetery tour of the season.
Behind the stones, two miles of trail
The walk's name includes "& Woods," and that part of the property is open long after the costumes are put away. The Kennebunk Land Trust describes Hope Woods as 72 acres of forest and field behind the cemetery, with about two miles of marked trails through forest and field.
Ownership and upkeep are split among a few groups. According to the Hope Cemetery Corporation, Hope Cemetery owns Hope Woods, the Kennebunk Land Trust holds the conservation easement, and Friends of Hope Cemetery & Woods maintains and manages the land.
The Land Trust lists these access points:
- Barnard Lane
- Wood Pond Lane
- Fletcher Street
- Woodhaven Drive
The cemetery corporation says the cemetery and Hope Woods are open to visitors on foot from sunrise to sunset all year. In late October that means the gates close in the early evening, so a post-work walk needs to start early. The rules for dogs depend on where you are. In the cemetery, dogs must be leashed or stay in the vehicle. On Land Trust properties in general, the trail etiquette welcomes dogs and asks owners to pick up waste and leash their dogs when approaching other people.
Taken together, the cemetery and the woods make up about 100 acres of walkable ground beside Main Street. If you've enjoyed our recent coverage of Rogers Pond, this is another outdoor spot in town where the story behind the place is more interesting than it first looks.
The week ends back at 117 Main Street
The museum's October lineup ends indoors, a short walk from the cemetery. According to The Local News, Of Séances & Spirits runs Thursday, October 29, from 5 to 8 p.m. at the Brick Store Museum. The evening looks at Kennebunk's 19th-century séance culture and includes an actress reenacting a historic Victorian séance, local ghost stories, memento mori art-making, live tarot readings, signature cocktails and heavy appetizers. Saco-Biddeford Savings and Tracey Bricker, State Farm Agent, are the sponsors.
The same night closes out a new project. The Local News reports that the first Gorgeous Gourds project invited artists of all ages and skill levels to decorate reusable craft pumpkins. The finished pieces have been on display in the museum's galleries all month, and they'll be sold in a silent auction at Of Séances & Spirits. So if you haven't seen them yet, a visit before the 29th is your last chance to see them all in one place.
The museum lists several free parking options for either night: on Main Street in front of the museum, the municipal lot off Elm Street, Dane Street, the lot behind the Waterhouse Center reached from Grove Street, and the lot at 51 Main Street. It also says any special-event parking will be posted on each event listing.
| Date | What | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Sat., Oct. 24 | All Souls' Walk, noon to 3 p.m. departures | Hope Cemetery & Woods |
| Through Oct. 29 | Gorgeous Gourds on view | Brick Store Museum galleries |
| Thu., Oct. 29 | Of Séances & Spirits and Gorgeous Gourds auction, 5 to 8 p.m. | Brick Store Museum, 117 Main St. |
| Later this fall to spring 2027 | Receiving tomb restoration | Hope Cemetery |
| Year-round, sunrise to sunset | Hope Woods trails | Barnard Ln., Wood Pond Ln., Fletcher St., Woodhaven Dr. |
When the walk is over and the tomb repair starts, the grounds go back to their everyday use. The receiving tomb with the bell rope Litchfield described is close to the main entrance on Main Street, just inside the granite columns.
Our team keeps track of Kennebunk projects like the tomb repair and the seasonal calendar at the Brick Store Museum. If you'd like to talk about life near the village center, from the Brick Store Museum to the trails behind Hope Cemetery, reach out to Amy Foley and the Scoville Foley Team. Contact Us anytime.
