Granary Burying Ground Audio Guide

Granary Burying Ground: what does the audio guide cover?

1. 01

   Welcome to Granary Burying Ground

   This section of the Mappu audio guide to the Granary Burying Ground highlights Welcome to Granary Burying Ground and points out what to notice during your visit.

   Welcome to the Granary Burying Ground, a small, tree-shaded patch of old slate and granite on Tremont Street in the heart of Boston. Step up to the fence and you are looking at the city's third-oldest cemetery, founded in 1660. It is a stop on the Freedom Trail, and it draws over one million visitors every year, which makes it the most visited historic burying ground in the Northeast. The story begins with a practical problem. King's Chapel Burying Ground, a block to the east, was Boston's first cemetery, and it was running out of room as the town grew. So town officials set aside part of what was then Boston Common as new burial space. It was first called the South Burying Ground, and later the Middle Burying Ground, once another cemetery opened. Over the next few minutes we will look at how the place got its curious name, who lies here, and how the grounds you see today were shaped by the nineteenth century. Look around as you listen. The tilted slate markers, the iron fence and the old trees all have a story to tell.

2. 02

   A Name Borrowed from a Grain Store

   This section of the Mappu audio guide to the Granary Burying Ground highlights A Name Borrowed from a Grain Store and points out what to notice during your visit.

   Why is a cemetery named after grain? For its first decades, this ground was simply the South Burying Ground, and it was part of Boston Common. Just two years after it was established, the southwest portion of the block was taken for public buildings, including a granary and a house of correction. Then, in 1737, the burying ground took the granary's name. The building was a grain storage house that held 12,000 bushels, and it stood on the site of today's Park Street Church, right next door. The boundaries kept shifting. In 1717 the cemetery was enlarged by taking part of the highway on its eastern side, which is Tremont Street today. So the street you walked along to get here once ran through ground that later became part of the graveyard. The Common's livestock also played a part. Because the burying ground was once part of the Common, the animals that grazed there handled the landscaping of the cemetery as well. It is a very different picture from the carefully kept grounds you see now.

3. 03

   Patriots, Judges and a Famous Family Tomb

   This section of the Mappu audio guide to the Granary Burying Ground highlights Patriots, Judges and a Famous Family Tomb and points out what to notice during your visit.

   The names buried here read like a roll call of early American history. Paul Revere rests near the back, where a large marker placed in the nineteenth century stands beside a smaller, older slate stone. In the two front corners, matching stones commemorate James Otis and Samuel Adams. Right beside the stone for Adams is the marker for the victims of the Boston Massacre. John Hancock is also buried here, and so is Christopher Seider, who is remembered as the first American casualty of the Revolution. Boston's first mayor, John Phillips, lies here too. Not every story is about revolution. Samuel Sewall, a justice on the Court of Oyer and Terminer, a figure tied to the Salem witch trials, is buried here. Benjamin Woodbridge, who died in 1728, was the victim of the first duel fought in Boston. And then there is the Franklin family tomb, where Benjamin Franklin's parents are buried. Franklin himself is not here. He moved to Philadelphia at seventeen and is buried in Christ Church Burial Ground there. Visitors often leave coins or flags by the markers of the famous, a small sign of how personal these graves still feel.

4. 04

   Ordinary Bostonians and a Nineteenth-Century Makeover

   This section of the Mappu audio guide to the Granary Burying Ground highlights Ordinary Bostonians and a Nineteenth-Century Makeover and points out what to notice during your visit.

   For all its famous names, the Granary was never reserved for any one group. Thousands of Bostonians of all economic classes and skin colors lie within these walls. The grounds hold approximately 2,345 gravestones and tombs, yet it is estimated that over 5,000 people are buried here. That gap is one of the cemetery's quiet mysteries. Look closely and you will notice many stones for children who died of diseases we can now treat or prevent. One tomb was designated especially for children, and it held over 400 young people. The grave markers are predominantly slate, a stone that lets carvers add fine detail. The look of the place owes a lot to the mid-nineteenth century. That is when the front wall, the fence and the Egyptian gate went in, along with pedestrian walkways, shade trees and shrubbery. The granite wall, entrance gate and cast-iron fence date to 1840. The stones themselves were also rearranged into straighter rows over the years, to suit nineteenth-century taste and the modern lawnmower. So the neat rows you see may not match the original layout. A major preservation project in 2016 earned an award from the Massachusetts Historical Commission.

5. 05

   Before You Head Off

   This section of the Mappu audio guide to the Granary Burying Ground highlights Before You Head Off and points out what to notice during your visit.

   The Granary Burying Ground has never been just a monument. It is a working piece of Boston's story, and it fills with visitors on Independence Day, when people come looking for a tangible link to the nation's founding. Some people also trade ghost stories about the place, with tales of strange lights and whispers, and that lore is part of how it is talked about today. Before you move on, try a few things. Find the Franklin Monument and read its text. Compare Paul Revere's older slate marker with the larger one beside it. Then let your eyes drift past the famous graves to the smaller stones, the ones with names you do not recognize. Those belong to the thousands of other Bostonians who made this ground their final resting place. The Freedom Trail continues from here, and King's Chapel Burying Ground, the older cemetery that made this one necessary, is only a block to the east. Walking between the two is a good way to see how a growing town kept making room for its dead.