Copp's Hill Burying Ground - A View Across the River

Photo: Rhododendrites, CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)

A stop on Boston Freedom Trail, a free self-guided tour.

Founded in 1659, Copp's Hill is the second oldest burying ground in Boston and sits on the highest point of the North End. Walk to the edge and look across the river: that's Charlestown, where you're headed next. In June 1775, British cannons placed on this hill fired across the water during the Battle of Bunker Hill.

The Puritan ministers Increase and Cotton Mather are buried here. So is Prince Hall, an abolitionist and the founder of the first Black Masonic lodge in America. Many free Black Bostonians lived nearby in a community once called New Guinea, and hundreds of them were buried on this hill.

Look for the stone of Daniel Malcolm, a merchant who called himself a son of liberty. The story goes that British soldiers used his gravestone for target practice, and you can still see the pockmarks where bullets are said to have struck.

Getting here: From Old North, follow the red line uphill on Hull Street; the burying ground entrance is on your right after about a block.

Did you know?: Copp's Hill was named for William Copp, a shoemaker who once owned land on the hill.

Photo op: Stand at the Commercial Street side of the hill for a view over the rooftops toward the Charlestown waterfront and Bunker Hill Monument.

More on Wikipedia: Copp's Hill Burying Ground · Prince Hall · Cotton Mather · Daniel Malcolm

Copp's Hill Burying Ground - A View Across the River

Stops on this tour