Copp’s Hill Burying Ground was the second place of internment on the Boston peninsula and was laid out in 1659. During the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, Copp’s Hill Burying Ground occupied a site perched on a rugged cliff that was almost inaccessible from the Charles River. The burying ground was frequently referred to as the “North Ground” in old records, but eventually became known by its present name through its association with William Copp, a shoemaker and early settler who lived near today’s Prince Street.

The current size of the burying ground comprises four successively acquired parcels of land totaling about two acres. The original burial area was a rough parallelogram about half the width of the current site, sitting along Charter and Snow Hill streets.

During the Revolution, the burying ground’s prominent location overlooking the harbor gave it strategic military importance. At its southwest side, the British established their North Battery and an earthworks from which Generals Burgoyne and Clinton directed the shelling of Bunker Hill and ultimately the torching of Charlestown. It is also believed that while occupying the burying ground, the British troops used it for target practice. Many have interpreted the round scars of the Captain Daniel Malcolm grave marker, a merchant who was well known throughout the Colony for his strident opposition to the Revenue Acts, as the result of musket balls shot at close range.

Used continually as a burying ground through the 1850s, Copp’s Hill is the final resting place of over 10,000 people. The Mather tomb contains the remains of members of the prominent ministerial family: Increase, Cotton and Samuel. Also interred here are Edmund Hartt, the builder of the USS Constitution; Robert Newman, best known for placing the lanterns at Christ Church on the eve of the Battles of Lexington and Concord; several founders of the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company; and Prince Hall, anti-slavery activist, Revolutionary War soldier, and founder of the black Masonic Order. A section in the northwest quadrant was designated as a section specifically for Black Bostonians, both free and enslaved. In addition, thousands of artisans, craftspersons, and tradesmen are buried in Copp’s Hill. The grave markers and their epitaphs reflect the nature of the seventeenth and eighteenth-century trade and business economy of the North End.

During the period from the Revolution through the early decades of the nineteenth century, the cemetery was neglected, but by the 1830s, City-led beautification projects began to transform the appearance of the burying ground. In 1838, a system of walks and promenades was laid out. Later, the two entry ways were formally redesigned with Quincy granite and wrought-iron gates. By the 1870s, 180 shade trees were planted. In efforts to conform to the prevailing concepts of cemetery aesthetics and perhaps to accommodate the newly evolving lawnmower, the City rearranged the gravestones in straight rows. The footstones were also set directly behind the headstones, although not necessarily with the corresponding stone.