Granary Burying Ground, Boston

Adjacent to Park Street Church, you'll find one of the more serene destinations in Boston —the historic Old Granary Burying Ground. Serving as the final resting place for numerous leaders of the American Revolution, its entrance features an Egyptian Revival arch facing Tremont Street, and it is from Tremont's sidewalk that you can best appreciate some of the most famous gravesites.

On the side closest to Park Street Church, there is a boulder with an attached plaque marking the tomb of the revolutionary figure James Otis, known for his eloquent speeches against British tyranny. A few tombs down, heading away from the church, you'll find the resting place of Samuel Adams, the charismatic patriot whose involvement in beer brewing has made him a household name. Next to his tomb is the communal grave of the five individuals killed in the Boston Massacre of 1770, an event that intensified anti-Tory sentiment in Boston.

From any vantage point within the cemetery, you can spot the robust obelisk at its center, which marks the grave of Benjamin Franklin's parents. Wealthier families often chose more secure burial vaults and table tombs, such as semi-submerged sarcophagi. Peter Faneuil, the benefactor of Boston's most prominent meeting hall, rests in one of the latter, situated in the left rear corner of the burial ground.

Midway along the path at the back is the grave of the renowned messenger and silversmith Paul Revere. Across from Revere, in a red-toned sarcophagus, you'll find the infamous Salem Witch Trial Judge, Samuel Sewall, who later expressed remorse for his role in the "condemnation" of "innocent people". On the Park Street Church side, opposite the judge's grave, a white pillar designates the final resting place of John Hancock, a signer of the Declaration of Independence. Another signatory, Robert Paine, lies along the eastern edge.