Visit Copp’s Hill Burying Ground to see what was once Boston’s biggest cemetery. Founded in 1659, it serves as the final resting place for more than 10,000 people, including many of the colony’s most prominent figures. On a tour of the North End’s colonial sites, be sure to make the climb for the view and a time capsule of Boston’s distant past.
Perched atop a hill, with views over the harbor to Charlestown, the cemetery was appropriated for another use during the Revolutionary War, when British troops installed their guns here to train on the colonists during the Battle of Bunker Hill. Locals claim that the pockmarks in the ancient gravestones are due to those soldiers using them as target practice.
Step through the cast iron gates and walk slowly around the graves, many supplemented with historical information giving stories of the people buried there. Admire elaborate Puritan death artwork adorning the headstones, expressions of a religious culture that saw death as a necessary part of life. Spot the graves of Cotton and Increase Mather, Puritan ministers deeply connected to the Salem witch trials of the late 17th century.
Near Charter Street, pay respects to the many semi-free African Americans who lie buried, largely unmarked, in the potter’s field that abutted “New Guinea,” the city’s largely black district.
Keep wandering past the graves, looking for other notable personalities including Prince Hall, an anti-slavery activist and the founder of the black Masonic Order. Less noble is the infamous smuggler Daniel Malcolm.
Copp’s Hill Burying Ground is on the northern shore of downtown Boston, a 10-minute walk from North Station, one of Boston’s biggest transportation hubs. Walk from the Paul Revere House in about 7 minutes. Faneuil Hall is a 13-minute walk or 6-minute drive away. The narrow streets of the North End are infamous for their lack of visitor parking, though several metered parking garages are available, especially near North Station.
The cemetery is open for visitors daily from morning to late afternoon, year round. Though located at the top of a hill, the cemetery itself is relatively easy to access. It has no admission fee.
