Discover the Dark Side of Boston
Walking tour recounts tales of misery, misfortune, and murder
Copp’s Hill Burying Ground, where pirate captain John Quelch was hung in 1704, is just one of the gruesome spots along Boston’s by Foot’s Dark Side of Boston tour. Photo by flickr user Mike Schaffner (Flickr)
Many are familiar with the city’s Freedom Trail, the 2.5 mile walking tour chronicling the role of the city and its citizens in the American Revolution. But for an altogether different take on the Hub, tonight’s Boston by Foot Dark Side of Boston walking tour brings to life some more lurid history. The tour is rife with tales of more than two centuries of disease, crime, and murder in the North End.
The tour-guided walk begins at 6 p.m. at the intersection of Hanover and Cross Streets. Over the course of 90 minutes, you’ll explore historic burial grounds and crime scenes dating from the early 1700s through the 20th century. Pay your respects at Copp’s Burying Ground on Hull Street, the final resting place of thousands of African Americans who were part of the city’s New Guinea community and were buried in unmarked graves. Also buried there is Puritan minister Cotton Mather, a supporter of the Salem witch trials and a proponent of inoculation during the smallpox epidemic of 1721 that infected more than 5,000 and killed more than 800. You’ll also learn about the Great Influenza epidemic of 1918 and its impact on the city. One theory (not held widely today) is that the pandemic began on the city’s Commonwealth Pier. The virus claimed from 30 million to 50 million lives worldwide (675,000 Americans).
Wander through the streets and alleyways of the North End, past former speakeasies, gambling dens, and brothels. Hear about the dangers of Richmond Street and visit the site of the infamous 1950 Brink’s Robbery, where five masked men made off with nearly $3 million—at the time the largest robbery in US history. You’ll pass the former headquarters of mafia boss Gennaro “Jerry’’ Angiulo, who prior to his death in 2009 was called “the last very significant Mafia boss in Boston’s history.” Your guide will enlighten you about other disturbing stories, ranging from witch trials to body-snatching to the deadly Molasses Flood of 1919 that claimed the lives of 21 people.
Boston by Foot also hosts neighborhood tours and architecture cruises throughout the summer. Special topics include Literary Landmarks, Reinventing Boston, Boston’s LGBT past, and a Boston for Little Feet tour geared for children 6 to 12. All tours are led by volunteer docents who complete a six-week training course in Boston history.
Dark Side of Boston tours are offered every Thursday through Sunday at 6 p.m. through August, and Friday through Sunday from September to November. Tickets are $15 for adults; $13 if preordered online; $10 for children 6 to 12. Tours last 90 minutes and start at the corner of Hanover and Cross Streets, next to the Tony DeMarco statue across from the Rose Kennedy Greenway. Take an MBTA Green Line trolley to Haymarket, walk towards John F. Fitzgerald Surface Road, then left on Hanover Street to Cross Street. For more information, call 617-367-2345 or check Boston by Foot’s tour calendar.
Ashley Mayrianne Jones can be reached at asjones@bu.edu.
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