Copp's Hill Burying Ground

Coordinates: 42°22′2″N 71°3′23″W / 42.36722°N 71.05639°W / 42.36722; -71.05639
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Copp's Hill Burying Ground
Boston, Massachusetts
Coordinates42°22′2″N 71°3′23″W / 42.36722°N 71.05639°W / 42.36722; -71.05639
Area2 acres (0.81 ha)
Built1659
NRHP reference No.74000385 [1]
Added to NRHPApril 18, 1974

Copp's Hill Burying Ground is a historic cemetery in the

Boston, Massachusetts
. Established in 1659, it was originally named "North Burying Ground", and was the city's second cemetery.

History

Several headstones from the 18th and 19th century in the cemetery

The cemetery was founded on February 20, 1659, when the town bought land on Copp's Hill from John Baker and Daniel Turell to start the "North Burying Ground". Now named "Copp's Hill Burying Ground" (although often referred to as "Copp's Hill Burial Ground"), it is the second-oldest cemetery in Boston (after King's Chapel Burying Ground, which was founded in 1630). It contains more than 1200 marked graves, including the remains of various notable Bostonians from the colonial era into the 1850s.[2]

The first extension was made on January 7, 1708, when the town bought additional land from

mint
.

A still-legible headstone in Copp's Hill Burying Ground

Benjamin Weld and his wife Nabby sold the second extension to the town for $10,000 (~$216,791 in 2023) on December 18, 1809, soon after they had bought it from Jonathan Merry, who had used it as pasture. Ten years later, Charles Wells, later mayor of Boston, bought a small parcel of land from John Bishop of Medford
and used this as a cemetery that was later merged with the adjacent North Burying Ground. Because of this complicated history, it is no longer possible to discern the original boundaries of the cemetery.

On the Snow Hill Street side are the many unmarked graves of the

African Americans
who lived in the "New Guinea" community at the foot of the hill. In addition to the graves there are 272 tombs, most of which bear inscriptions that are still legible.

By 1840 the cemetery had fallen into near disuse but the town continued to maintain the site intermittently. By 1878 it was badly neglected. The cemetery was not an official stop on the

tourists and photographers. The site was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1974.[1]

Notable burials

View of Copp's Hill Burying Ground, 1895

See also

References

  1. ^ a b "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. January 23, 2007.
  2. ^ "MACRIS inventory record for Copp's Hill Burying Ground". Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Retrieved 2014-06-01.

Images

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Copp's Hill Burying Ground.

External links

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