Boston : Burying Grounds

Copp's Hill Burying Ground

Trace the history of Boston on the thousands of tombstones here, from the mean-spirited Mather family, theocrats who ruled the early city, to the valiant patriots slain in the fight for freedom.

In the Battle of Bunker Hill, the British, who occupied the city in 1775, manned a battery from this site and fired on neighboring Charlestown.

This burying ground had some great sweeping views of the harbor, too.

With headstones dating from the 17th century, Copp's Hill is a must for history buffs.

It was named after William Copp, a farmer who sold the land to the church.

Old Granary Burying Ground

A varitable who's-who of revolutionary history fertilizes this plot next to Park Street Church.

One of its most venerable residents is revolutionary Samuel Adams.

Dating from the 1660, the Granary contains the graves of many of Boston's most illustrious figures, including John Hancock and John Revere.

Other notables include the hugely influential architect Charles Bulfinch, Benjamin Franklin's parents, and Crispus Attucks - an escaped slave who was allegedly the first casualty of the so-dubbed Boston Massacre.

The neatly aligned gravestones bear little relation to actual graves.