Copp's Hill

sign on Copp's Hill with the Skinny House (Boston)Skinny House in the background
"Copp's Hill" is an elevation in the historic North End, Boston, MassachusettsNorth End of Boston, Massachusetts. It is bordered by Hull Street, Charter Street and Snow Hill Street. The hill takes its name from William Copp, a shoemaker who once owned the land. Copp's Hill Burying Ground is a stop on the Freedom Trail.

Early history
Like all of the Shawmut Peninsula, the hill was Algonquin territory before the establishment of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. The first English peopleEnglish settlers to the hill arrived in the 1630s and built a windmill atop the hill to grind grain.

Copp's Hill Burying Ground


Founded by the town of Boston in 1659, Copp's Hill Burying Ground is the second oldest burying ground in the city. The cemetery's boundaries were extended several times, and the grounds contain the remains of many notable Bostonians in the thousands of graves and 272 tombs.

Among the Bostonians buried here are the original owner, William Copp's, children, also Increase Mather, Cotton Mather, Robert Newman (the patriot who placed the signal lanterns in the steeple of Old North Church for Paul Revere's midnight ride to Lexington, MassachusettsLexington and Concord, MassachusettsConcord), Prince Hall (the father of Black peopleBlack Freemasonry) and many unmarked graves of the African Americans who lived in the 'New Guinea' community at the foot of the hill. The cemetery was not an official stop on the Freedom Trail when it was created in 1951, but it has since been added and is much-frequented by tourists and photographyphotographers.

Revolutionary War
During the American Revolutionary WarRevolutionary War, the United KingdomBritish used the hill to train artillery onto Charlestown, MassachusettsCharlestown. For several years starting in 1806, soil was taken from the top of Copp's Hill to increase the available building land by filling the Mill Pond. This removal reduced the height of the hill by about 7 feet (about 2 meters).

Skinny House


Across the street from the Copp's Hill Burying Ground is an extremely narrow four-story spite house built shortly after the American Civil WarCivil War. Only wide at its widest point, the house is reported by the 'Boston Globe' as having the 'uncontested distinction of being the narrowest house in Boston.'

The vista
Copp's Hill is the highest point in the North End and is the third highest hill in Boston after Beacon Hill, Boston, MassachusettsBeacon Hill and Fort Hill. As such, Copp's Hill provides a view of numerous local landmarks. The Old North Church stands at one end of Hull Street. In the opposite direction, the Leonard P. Zakim Bunker Hill Memorial Bridge and the TD Banknorth Garden are visible not far away. Over local rooftops the upper levels of Custom House Tower, One International Place, and other buildings in the Financial District, Boston, MassachusettsFinancial District can be glimpsed. Beyond the other side of the hill, across the Charles River in Charlestown, Boston, MassachusettsCharlestown, the 'USS Constitution' and the 'USS Cassin Young (DD-793)USS Cassin Young' may be seen docked at Boston Navy Yard with the Bunker Hill Monument in the distance.

Gallery

tomb in Copp's Hill Burying Ground
on Hull Street
with Copp's Hill Burying Ground in the foreground


, the Leonard P. Zakim Bunker Hill Memorial Bridge, and the Copp's Hill Burying Ground.
and One International Place glimpsed in the background.
References





en.wikipedia.org