African Burial Ground

Sitting among the financial movers and shakers and beautiful, old, official buildings is a quiet piece of very important history: the African Burial Ground. During preliminary construction of a downtown office building in 1991, builders were shocked to find more than 400 stacked wooden caskets, discovered only 16 to 28ft below street level. When it became clear that the boxes held the remains of enslaved Africans (nearby Trinity Church graveyard had banned the burial of Africans at the time), construction was halted, an investigation was launched and all hell broke loose. As a result, the site became permanently protected as a National Historic Landmark, and today it’s part of the National Parks Service. A visitor center provides historic background – and, as a federal site, requires airport-like security screenings, so leave your nail files in the hotel. The beautiful memorial honors an estimated 15,000 Africans buried here during the 17th and 18th centuries.