6 Best Sights in Boston, Massachusetts

The Central Burying Ground may seem an odd feature for a public park, but remember that in 1756, when the land was set aside, this was a lonely corner of Boston Common. It's the final resting place of Tories and Patriots alike, as well as many British casualties of the Battle of Bunker Hill. The most famous person buried here is Gilbert Stuart, the portraitist best known for his likenesses of George and Martha Washington.

An ancient and melancholy air hovers like a fine mist over this Colonial-era burial ground. The North End graveyard incorporates four cemeteries established between 1660 and 1819. Near the Charter Street gate is the tomb of the Mather family, the dynasty of church divines (Cotton and Increase were the most famous sons) who held sway in Boston during the heyday of the old theocracy. Also buried here is Robert Newman, who crept into the steeple of Old North Church to hang the lanterns warning of the British attack the night of Paul Revere's ride. Look for the tombstone of Captain Daniel Malcolm; it's pockmarked with musket-ball fire from British soldiers, who used the stones for target practice. Across the street is 44 Hull (Boston's historic Skinny House), the city's narrowest house, measuring at just a mere 10 feet wide, which recently fetched a selling price of $1.5 million. This is Freedom Trail stop 14.

Next to the imposing church on the corner of Church Street and Mass Ave. lies the spooky-looking colonial Old Burying Ground. Known as the most historic cemetery in Cambridge, it was established around 1635 and houses 17th- and 18th-century tombstones of ministers, Continental Congressmen, authors, early Harvard presidents, and Revolutionary War soldiers. The wooden Gothic Revival church, known locally as "First Church" or "First Parish," was built in 1833 by Isaiah Rogers. The congregation dates to two centuries earlier, and has been linked to Harvard since the founding of the college.

Boston's cemeteries are among the most historic in America, and the Granary, established in 1660, is no exception. Headstones are elaborately ornamented with skeletons and winged skulls among other carved Colonial folk art. Samuel Adams, John Hancock, Paul Revere, and Benjamin Franklin's parents are among the impressive list of the estimated 5,000 folks interred here; there hasn't been a new burial since 1880. Note the winged hourglasses carved into the stone gateway of the burial ground; they are a 19th-century addition. This is Freedom Trail stop 4.

Legends linger in this oldest of the city's cemeteries, its first proper burying ground. A handy map of famous grave sites is posted a short walk down the left path. Notable people buried here include Elizabeth Pain, the model for Hester Prynne in Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter; William Dawes Jr., who rode out to warn of the British invasion the night of Paul Revere's famous ride; and John Winthrop, the first governor of Massachusetts, along with several generations of his descendants.  This is Freedom Trail stop 5.

A cemetery might not strike you as a first choice for a visit, but this one is an absolute pleasure, filled with artwork and gorgeous landscaping. Opened in 1831, it was the country's first garden cemetery, and its bucolic landscape boasts peaceful ponds, statues (including a giant sphinx), breathtaking mausoleums, and a panorama of Boston and Cambridge from Washington Tower. More than 90,000 people have been buried here—among them Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Mary Baker Eddy, Winslow Homer, Amy Lowell, Isabella Stewart Gardner, and architect Charles Bulfinch. The grave of engineer Buckminster Fuller bears an engraved geodesic dome.

In spring, local nature lovers and bird-watchers come out of the woodwork to see the warbler migrations, the glorious blossoms, and blooming trees, while later in the year nature shows off its autumnal range of glorious color. Brochures, maps, and audio tours are at the entrance, and the cemetery is a five-minute drive from the heart of Harvard Square.