Granary Burial Ground

The ninety minute tour of the Freedom Trail begins at the Beacon Street Dome from inside the Commons. The massive gold-plated dome stands at the street edge and is a strange anomaly, stark gold against the surrounding age of brick that is old Boston.  The Commons itself, a jumble of grass slopes, made ponds, statues, has, above all, a look of an old park as we might have seen it in the past. A few blocks down we walk into the tucked away setting of the Granary Burial Garden, the oldest and most anachronistic features of the Boston tour, as the old half domed grave stones, thin and tall, have slanted over time and look like they could fall at any minute. We take more time here then any other place but the eventual State House.  At the center of the cemetery stands the near obelisk of the

Franklin family, signifying not Benjamin's resting site – he is in Philadelphia – but other family. Benjamin and his brother had once operated a printing business here in town, they did not see eye to eye, and the brother had found ways to scoot the one-day Founding Father, Benjamin, on to Philadelphia to take his hand at drafting a Declaration of Independence.  Hancock stands with his profile secured in the side of his stone; Sam Adams near the entry, as well as other less notable signers of the Declaration.  The history is absorbed through the stories, but it is the preservation of the awkward stones and ill-landscaped grounds that seems to be the most powerful tool for understanding the life process of a time that was caught up in revolution and preservation all at the same time.  Old trees shade the grounds. The buildings that surround are quite quiet. The street nearest is not the busiest.