Granary Burying Ground - Patriots at Rest

Photo: Miguel Hermoso Cuesta, CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)

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

Step through the Egyptian-style gate and you're among some of the Revolution's most famous names. Founded in 1660, the Granary takes its name from a grain storehouse that once stood next door, where Park Street Church is now.

Here lie three signers of the Declaration of Independence: John Hancock, Samuel Adams and Robert Treat Paine. Paul Revere rests here too. The tall obelisk in the middle marks the parents of Benjamin Franklin, who is buried in Philadelphia.

Near the front, a small marker honors the five men killed in the Boston Massacre, including Crispus Attucks, a man of African and Native descent who is often called the first casualty of the Revolution.

There are roughly 2,300 markers, but historians think far more people are buried here, including many whose graves were never marked at all. Stay on the paths and look at the carved winged skulls on the oldest slate stones.

Getting here: Walk a few steps north along Tremont Street from Park Street Church; the burying ground gate is right next door.

Did you know?: The stones have been moved and lined up in neat rows over the years, so many no longer mark the actual grave beneath them.

Photo op: From just inside the gate, frame the Franklin family obelisk with rows of old slate headstones in front of it.

More on Wikipedia: Granary Burying Ground · John Hancock · Crispus Attucks · Paul Revere

Granary Burying Ground - Patriots at Rest

Stops on this tour