The Granary Burying Ground was the third burial site in Boston Proper, established in 1660. Town officials set aside part of what was then the Boston Common for burial space to help alleviate overcrowding in the near-by King’s Chapel Burying Ground. First, the space was known as the South or Common Burying Ground, and then the Middle Burying Ground (after the opening of Central Burying Ground). The Granary Burying Ground took its present name in 1737 when a granary, a small building used to store grain, was moved to the site presently occupied by the Park Street Church.

The Granary Burying Grounds contains approximately 2,345 gravestones and tombs, although it is estimated that over 5,000 people are buried at this site. The grave markers are predominantly slate. The gravestones’ original configuration was rearranged into straighter rows over the years to accommodate both nineteenth-century aesthetics and the modern lawnmower. Underground burial crypts (tombs) line the entire perimeter of the site. These crypts are small rectangular rooms, made of brick or stone, designed to hold multiple burials, which were frequently owned by families. Older underground tombs are found in the center of the site.

Many well-known people from American history are buried at this site. Visitors will find the graves of three signers of the Declaration of Independence: Samuel Adams, John Hancock, and Robert Treat Paine; patriot and craftsman Paul Revere; James Otis, a Revolutionary orator and lawyer; the five victims of the Boston Massacre, including Crispus Attucks, considered to be the first casualty of the American Revolution; and Peter Faneuil, benefactor of the famed downtown Boston landmark. Near the center of the ground, a 25-foot-tall obelisk commemorates the tomb of Benjamin Franklin’s parents. Other prominent Bostonians, including nine Massachusetts governors, the first mayor of Boston, and Puritan clergymen, also share this space.

The Granary was not reserved for any one specific group of people. The remains of thousands of Boston citizens of all economic classes and skin colors lie within its walls. Attentive visitors will notice the many gravestones for children who died of diseases that we can now treat or prevent. A tomb specifically designated for the burial of children held over 400 young people. It is believed that Black and Indigenous peoples were buried in the front of the site, along with people of low economic stature, such as inhabitants of the adjacent almshouse, prison, and workhouse.

During the mid-nineteenth century, many landscaping projects were undertaken in the Granary, including the installation of the front wall, fence, and Egyptian gate; the creation of pedestrian walkways; and the planting of shade trees and shrubbery. Modern restoration efforts have preserved this configuration. The burying ground closely resembles historic photographs taken of the site in the late 19th century.