![]() On May 15, 1717, a vote was passed by the town to enlarge the Burying Ground by taking part of the highway on the eastern side (now Tremont Street). One of the most popular motifs was the "Soul Effigy," a skull or "death’s head" with a wing on each side that was a representation of the soul flying to heaven after death. Puritan churches did not believe in religious icons or imagery, so the people of Boston used tombstones as an outlet for artistic expression of their beliefs about the afterlife. Tombs were initially placed near the back of the property. The southwest portion of the block was taken for public buildings two years after the cemetery was established, which included the Granary and a house of correction, and the north portion of the block was used for housing. The Burying Ground was originally part of the Boston Common, which then encompassed the entire block. In May 1830, trees were planted in the area and an attempt was made to change the name to "Franklin Cemetery" to honor the family of Benjamin Franklin, but the effort failed.Įntrance to the Granary Burying Ground as it appeared circa 1881 with the European Elms present ![]() The area was known as the South Burying Ground until 1737, at which point it took on the name of the granary building which stood on the site of the present-day Park Street Church. ![]() The need for the site arose because the land set aside for the city's first cemetery- King's Chapel Burying Ground, located a block east-was insufficient to meet the city's growing population. The Burying Ground was the third cemetery established in the city of Boston and dates to 1660. Boston Pictorial Archive, Boston Public Library History Old Granary Burying Ground showing Hancock monument, ca. The cemetery's Egyptian revival gate and fence were designed by architect Isaiah Rogers (1800–1869), who designed an identical gate for Newport's Touro Cemetery. The cemetery is adjacent to Park Street Church, behind the Boston Athenaeum and immediately across from Suffolk University Law School. The cemetery has 2,345 grave-markers, but historians estimate that as many as 5,000 people are buried in it. It is the final resting place for many notable Revolutionary War-era patriots, including Paul Revere, the five victims of the Boston Massacre, and three signers of the Declaration of Independence: Samuel Adams, John Hancock, and Robert Treat Paine. The Granary Burying Ground in Massachusetts is the city of Boston's third-oldest cemetery, founded in 1660 and located on Tremont Street.
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