Granary Burying Ground

Old Granary Burial Ground

Granary Burying Ground (2006)
Details
Established	1660
Location	Boston, Massachusetts
Country	United States
Coordinates	42°21′26.6″N 71°03′42.1″W / 42.357389°N 71.061694°W / 42.357389; -71.061694
Type	Historical
Owned by	City of Boston
Number of graves	2,345
Website	Granary Burying Ground

The Old Granary Burial Ground in Massachusetts is the city of Boston's third-oldest cemetery, founded in 1660 and located on Tremont Street. 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 cemetery has 2,345 grave-markers, but historians estimate that as many as 5,000 people are buried in it. The cemetery is adjacent to Park Street Church and immediately across from Suffolk University Law School.

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 Burying Ground was the third cemetery established in the city of Boston and dates to 1660. 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 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. 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.