Boston is well-known for its long, famed, and historic narrative in the grand scheme of the United States of America. For this reason, you might expect some not-so-pleasant stories, secrets, adventures, and tourist attractions to be lurking all around. For all the paranormal hunters, Boston’s nightly Ghosts And Gravestones NIghttime Tour is the perfect way to spend your evening. Tour around the city’s most historic buildings and attractions while listening to harrowing stories. If you’re lucky, you might catch a glimpse of an apparition or two! Enjoy two hours of all of the night-time terrors that the old city of Boston offers!
America has many important and historical cities; if you are looking to learn more about America’s history, you should check out Boston, Philadelphia, and New York. You can also learn more about Boston’s Freedom Trail, which tells the complete story of America’s fight for freedom.
What You Can Expect On The Ghosts And Gravestones Tour
On the Boston Ghosts and Gravestones Nighttime tour, you and your loved ones will get a whole experience! Meet and join your tour host, a 17th Century grave digger who is cursed with eternal damnation. Keep him company as he carries out his sentence, roaming around the city and relaying the sinister stories that plague the historic city. From ghostly apparitions of lost souls to tales of Boston’s most notorious criminals, you will be entranced by the city’s secrets that the public may not want you to see.
Boston Tea Party Ship And Museum
Even if you’re not an American citizen, you might have heard of one of the Boston Tea Party. If you haven’t, Americans rebelled against the British Crown by dumping a whole lot of tea into the Boston Sea. At the heart of Boston, Americans have built and established the Boston Tea Party Ship & Museum. Here, you can stand close to the body of water where the tea was poured into more than 200 years ago. You will also be able to see the kind of ships that the British rode. In addition, you can witness a reenactment of the historical event. The Boston Tea Party Ship & Museum shines as one of the most important sites in the city. You’ll be sure to learn yourself a thing or two!
Granary Burying Ground
The first spooky stop on the Boston Ghosts and Gravestones Nighttime tour in Boston’s Granary Burying Ground. It was named for the 12,000-bushel grain storage building that once stood next door. Nowadays, the Granary Burying Ground has approximately 5,000 graves. Many of these graves belong to famous American revolutionaries. Indeed, at the Granary Burying Ground, you can observe the graves of Paul Revere and Samuel Adams, among many others. Come and pay respects to the ones who fought for America’s freedom.
Copp’s Hill Burying Ground
Named after shoemaker William Copp, Copp’s Hill Burying Ground is located on top of a hill. Before it was a burying ground, it was a nest of windmills. Many years ago, the land was handed over to the residents of the historic North End area. Today, it is one of the many stops on the Boston Ghosts and Gravestones Nighttime tour.
Hundreds of gravestones scatter all around the premises, including those of well-known American patriots and figureheads. Among other famous names are Puritan fire-and-brimstone preachers Cotton and Increase Mather—the ones who were heavily involved in the infamous Salem Witch Trials. The founder of the Black Freemasonry, Prince Hall, also rests here. So do Robert Newman and Edmund Hartt who built the warship USS Constitution. The men who hung lanterns on the night of Paul Revere’s Midnight Ride and a handful of free African-Americans also rest at Copp’s Hill Burying Ground.
Another noble figure that lies inside Copp’s Hill Burying Ground is Sons of Liberty member Captain Daniel Malcolm. Malcolm was an avid supporter of the rebellion against the Crown and a smuggler. He famously once smuggled 60 casks of wine. Celebrated as one of the great patriotic figures, he was buried with the other notable American freedom fighters.
North End
As the oldest neighborhood in Boston, North End stands out as being the most distinctive area in the historical city. While a part of it serves as a residential area today, there are still many buildings that serve as museums or monuments that showcase and educate the public about America’s foundation story.
Make sure to take your time at each of these sites, as they literally make up the roots and foundation of what is today one of the top countries in the world. It’s always interesting to learn about the founding of a country, and it is even more interesting to learn about how people back then lived amidst talks, rebellious acts, war, and planning for their freedom, their country, and their future. Be careful during the night, however! As the Boston Ghosts and Gravestones Nighttime Tour will show you, things might not be as they might first appear.
Paul Revere House
As this wooden house stood at 12 North Square since 1680, it is the oldest house in downtown Boston. It is most famous for housing silversmith and Boston Patriot Paul Revere during the years 1770–1800. When Revere sold it in 1800, it became the headquarters of many different businesses and shops over the years. However, Revere’s great-grandson bought the house in 1902 and the house went under major renovations. In 1908, the house opened to the public, earning its reputation as the first historic house museum in not only Boston but in the US. Step through the door and feel the presence of famed Paul Revere, whose battle cry is known to millions.
Old North Church
There’s a saying that states that a city is not a city without a church. Old North Church, also known as Christ Church, is the oldest church building in Boston. Inspired by British architect Christopher Wren, American architects built and established the Old North Church in 1723. It is an official National Historic Landmark and a stop on the Freedom Trail. Like the other sites in North End, the Old North Church plays an important role in America’s history. It was the first step of Paul Revere’s “Midnight Ride.” While in front of the building, Revere instructed three Boston Patriots to hang lanterns in the steeple of the church. This was believed to be a sign that the British would be traveling by sea and not by land.
USS Constitution And Museum
The oldest commissioned warship still afloat, the USS Constitution was built in 1917. Today, it lies docked in the Charlestown Navy Yard close to the North End. During its active years, the USS Constitution has seen many battles and endured several ordeals, including its participation in the Barbary War off the coast of North Africa and its search for pirates around the Caribbean. When you’re at the USS Constitution and Museum, you might be able to sense the long and eventual life that the warship once had
A fun fact is that USS Constitution has a nom de guerre (French for “name of war”), Old Ironsides, which referred to how enemy cannonballs would ricochet off her sides during the battle.
For more information, check out the museum’s official Facebook page!
Bunker Hill Monument
As the first public obelisk in the United States, the Bunker Hill Monument commemorates one of the many battles that transpired between the British and the American colonies, the Battle of Bunker Hill. As the name suggests, the battle took place atop a hill, but contrary to popular belief, the battle actually took place atop Breed’s Hill. However, historians have misnamed the battle and the location where the Bunker Hill Monuments sits proudly perhaps to a mix-up in the historical recordings. It is here that, according to the accounts, the British used the high vantage point of the hill to look over at the opposing rebels and soldiers.
Boston Old Town Trolley Tour
If you wish to tour around Boston’s North End neighborhood and observe all of these historical sites but don’t have enough time or don’t want to spend a lot of time walking to each of them, you have the option to go on the Boston Old Town Trolley Tour, which takes you around to all of the listed attractions as well as provide historical narration of the events that make up America’s rebellion against the British and their formative years.
The capital city of Massachusettes is certainly one of the most important players in the historical narrative that founded the United States of America, and there are many historical sites, attractions, and stories that will both entertain and educate you. A plus is that on these tours, you will be able to enjoy the much darker secrets and ghostly side of Boston, as many of these sites are rumored to be covered with ghosts.
