Granary Burying Ground, Colonial cemetery in downtown Boston, United States
Granary Burying Ground is a cemetery in downtown Boston, Massachusetts, situated between Tremont, Park, and School Streets. The site displays gravestones and monuments made of slate, greenstone, and marble scattered among trees and maintained lawns.
The cemetery opened in 1660 when King's Chapel Burying Ground could no longer accommodate the growing population. Most gravestones were erected during the 18th century, while burials continued into the early 1800s.
The name comes from the granary building that stood on the site of today's Park Street Church; the ground was called South Burying Ground until 1737. Puritan churches rejected religious imagery, so Bostonians carved motifs such as the winged "Soul Effigy" skull on tombstones. The ground is a stop on Boston's Freedom Trail.
The grounds open daily from morning until late afternoon, and visitors can walk freely along paved paths between the graves. A short stroll covers the entire site, as it spans only a few city blocks.
An obelisk from 1827 rises above the grave of Benjamin Franklin's parents, though Franklin himself rests in Philadelphia. The number of gravestones does not match the total number of people buried, as many individuals share communal plots.
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