Granary Burying Ground

The Granary Burying Ground lies on Tremont Street in downtown Boston, Massachusetts, beside Park Street Church. It was laid out in 1660 and named for a grain storehouse that once stood nearby. Over the following two centuries it received roughly 5,000 burials, though only about 2,300 stones survive, since many markers were moved or lost over time. Today the rows of slate and brownstone markers appear regimented, a result of 19th-century rearrangement rather than the original layout. The ground is best known as the resting place of leading figures of the American Revolution. Samuel Adams, John Hancock and Robert Treat Paine, all signers of the Declaration of Independence, are buried here, as is Paul Revere, whose grave is marked by a modest stone and a plaque. Five victims of the Boston Massacre of 5 March 1770, including Crispus Attucks, share a common grave. Other burials include Peter Faneuil, benefactor of Faneuil Hall, and the parents of Benjamin Franklin, commemorated by an obelisk erected in 1827. A nearby marker is associated with Mary Goose, popularly linked to Mother Goose, though that attribution is a local tradition. The gravestone carvings, from winged skulls to cherubs and urns, trace the shift in New England funerary art during the 18th century. The ground is interpreted through markers, a gatehouse entrance with an Egyptian Revival design added in the 1840s, and occasional tours by the city. Preservation falls to the City of Boston's parks department, which has carried out stone conservation, tree care and path repairs in recent decades. Many stones remain fragile, and visitors are asked to avoid rubbings and not to step on graves. A walk through takes about 20 to 30 minutes, and the site is one of the most visited stops on the Freedom Trail.