Dark Side of Boston 90 Minute Private Tour
Hear tales of misery, misfortune and murder - all based on true historic events! On this tour through the North End’s winding streets and alleyways, you will hear tales of misery, misfortune, and murder. These dark stories are all based on true historical events that have occurred in Boston. Learn about the Great Influenza of 1918, outbreaks of smallpox, the Molasses Flood, and the infamous Brink's Robbery against the backdrop of Boston's oldest neighborhood. Exploring the North End is always a delight. It's even better when investigating stories from Boston's checkered past!
Options
Dark Side of Boston 90 Minute Private Tour
What's included in Dark Side of Boston 90 Minute Private Tour
(Subject to Option Inclusions)Itinerary
Old North Church & Historic Site
There are 37 brick tombs under the church, the first of which was built in 1732. Wealthy parishioners began to commission personal tombs. There is also Tomb 14: the ‘strangers’ tomb’— where anyone, regardless of social status, could be interred through the intercession of a benefactor. In 1820, the area was quite full with 33 tombs, so they built under the Vestry, but by 1845, it was necessary to reuse the space and remove coffins. Church leaders were not loath to sweep out the bones after a few decades and replace them with fresh ones—all in the name of cash flow in a fast-changing society. In 1853, a City ordinance closed the tombs to further burials for health concerns. This was an era of relocating services due to the stench. But wardens disregarded the law on occasion, presumably for a fee. A skeleton was found in the cellar when the first tomb was built; its coffin plate read ‘Mr. Thomas’— a family that was among the founders of Christ Church.
Copp's Hill Burying Ground
Dr. John Warren’s son, Dr. John Collins Warren (1778–1856), a founder of Mass. General Hospital in 1811, wrote about a body snatching incident from his medical school days in Copp’s Hill Burying Ground. While Dr. John Collins Warren was in college in 1796, he began procuring bodies for dissection. When he heard a man without relations was to be buried at Copp’s Hill, he and some associates set out to dig up the body. They reached the spot at 10:00 at night. They started digging, but thought they were in the wrong place, so went to a different grave. Then they decided they were right the first time and went back to the first grave. They uncovered the coffin by breaking it open. Then they took the body of “a stout young man” and put it in a bag.
North Square Stories
Many smallpox epidemics have occurred in world history. In Cotton Mather’s lifetime, three of his children nearly died in one such wave of the virus. In 18th-century England, the disease of Variola major (smallpox) was referred to as the speckled monster, as after the patient was strickent with weakness, fever, pain and chills, a spotty bumpy rash would cover the patient and eventually erupt into oozing blisters and pustules. Frequently patients would have these pox on the face and inside the eyelids. After a few weeks the blisters would dry and scab off leaving the victim with pitted scars. In Boston, 6 out of every 10 people who contracted the disease died, often due to systemic shock from body-wide infection and due to a buildup of toxins in the blood (toxemia). Even those who survived smallpox often had long-term complications as a result such as severe scarring or blindness (Massmoments.org, 2020).
Inclusions
- Walking tour led by passionate and well-trained guides
- Private transportation
- Service animals allowed
- Infants and small children can ride in a pram or stroller
- Wheelchair accessible
- Travelers should have at least a moderate level of physical fitness
Meet
Pickup and Dropoff
You will make your own way to the meeting points
Meeting Points
- Meet your guide at the corner of Hanover & Cross Streets, Boston (the statue of boxer Tony DeMarco across from the Greenway).
End Points
- Your tour will end in the general area of Hull St & Salem St, Boston, MA 02113.