Boston Common Central Burying Ground

Why is it significant?

Begin your journey into the historic heights of Beacon Hill on the tranquil southern slopes of Boston Common at the Central Burying Ground.

Key Facts

Open the walk

Begin your journey into the historic heights of Beacon Hill on the tranquil southern slopes of Boston Common at the Central Burying Ground. Established in 1756 to relieve overcrowding in the town's older graveyards, this serene, tree-shaded burial ground rests along Boylston Street, framed by weeping willows and the historic brick skyline of the Back Bay.

Among the celebrated luminaries laid to rest here is Gilbert Stuart, the preeminent American portrait painter who died in 1828. Stuart painted the iconic unfinished 1796 portrait of George Washington, known as the Athenaeum Portrait, which has been reproduced billions of times as the familiar engraving on the United States one-dollar bill.

The graveyard also holds the resting places of British soldiers who died of wounds or disease during the Siege of Boston in 1775 following the Battle of Bunker Hill, as well as scores of patriots who fought for American independence. In 1895, during the construction of the Tremont Street Subway—America's very first underground subway tunnel—excavators uncovered thousands of colonial burials along the park border. The remains were reverently reinterred in a large communal tomb beneath a granite marker within this cemetery. As you gaze across the weathered slate headstones carved with winged skull motifs, the morning light filters through ancient elms, casting gentle shadows over centuries of Boston history.

Standing on the open green expanses of Boston Common, America's oldest public park established by Puritan settlers in 1634, you feel the profound continuity of urban life. From seventeenth-century cow pastures and revolutionary military camps to nineteenth-century abolitionist rallies, this common ground has witnessed every chapter of the American story. The quiet dignity of this historic burying ground reminds visitors that beneath Boston's modern bustle lie the resting places of generations who forged the nation's earliest liberties.

Walk north along the paved park promenades toward the historic Frog Pond and Soldiers Monument.