Copp's Hill Burying Ground

Introduction

Established in 1659, Copp's Hill Burying Ground is Boston's second-oldest cemetery, set on a rise above the Charles River and resting Puritan ministers Cotton and Increase Mather, Boston Tea Party participant Edmund Hartt, and other early colonial figures. Headstones feature seventeenth- and eighteenth-century skull-and-hourglass memento mori carving, embodying Puritan solemnity about death and salvation. British artillery once stationed here damaged stones, and bullet marks remain visible. From the high ground one overlooks the Charles River and the USS Constitution pier, making it one of the most historically dense stops along the Freedom Trail. Wandering among tilted stones and weathered tombs, colonial Boston's hardship and faith come vividly alive.

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