Boston: cream pies, molasses, the strangler, and other sticky messes
Since I had such an enjoyable experience on the Key West Ghosts and Gravestones Tour, I decided to give it another go in Boston this past weekend. As a flight attendant, I have the unique opportunity to visit multiple cities in a short span of time, and if I see something I like, I find a counterpart in another city. Ghost and Gravestones, Boston was no exception. And it was just as good in Boston as it was in Key West, even without Robert The Doll. The guides were fantastic. Here they are, ready to limp…I mean, lead us through the streets:
It was an unseasonably chilly and rainy summer day. Perfect night for a ghost tour. I walked from my hotel in Cambridge across the bridge and to the other side of town to start my tour. The tour guide played the role of the bartender from the historic Green Dragon Tavern- the bartender who poisons his customers.
Speaking of poisonous liquids, we started our tour by learning of a very unusual disaster: a molasses rush on the North End. The Great Molasses Flood occurred on January 15, 1919. Twenty-one people were killed, and 150 injured. Basically, a tank collapsed under pressure at a distillery, and as the liquid cooled, it thickened and ran through the streets. Everything in Boston was sticky for days.
We visited two very old and historic cemeteries: Copp’s Hill and The Granary. The latter houses some famous people, including John Hancock, who is known for his big fat gigantic signature. He loved writing so much that his gravestone is shaped like a giant pen..is it just me, or did anyone else not know this about him?
Copp’s Hill Burial Ground is the other cemetery we visited, not far from the current baseball field where the distillery used to be, the one that started the aforementioned molasses disaster. The second oldest cemetery in Boston, it was founded in 1659. We learned that bodies were piled on top of each other, and this practice continued until a lady with a mind, as narrow as her narrow house (below), located just beyond the cemetery, complained. That practice stopped and they began to bury people in a more civilized manner.
Next, we learned about the Boston Strangler, the serial killer, before serial killers were “cool”. He had 13 victims. The building below was the home of his very last victim, Mary Sullivan. Albert DeSalvo confessed to the crimes. For each of the women he murdered, there was no sign of forced entry, and a common theme of each one was strangulation by a pair of nylon stockings. As fate would have it, DeSalvo died in prison, stabbed to death six times. His killer was never found.
As we were rounding out our tour, we learned about the historic Omni Parker House. All I ever knew about this hotel was how delicious the rolls and boston cream pie tasted, but I knew nothing of the ghosts who haunt the property until my tour. Mr. Parker, the original owner roams the 9th and 10th floors to check in on unsuspecting guests to make sure they are enjoying their stay. This hotel is over 160 years old, the longest running hotel in Boston, so there are bound to be a few ghosts wandering its corridors. The third floor also has quite a few reports of paranormal activities, and some of those things may be related to a suicide that occurred there, in room 303 to be precise. As the story goes, a liquor salesman mixed whiskey and barbiturates, which was a lethal combination. (If you’ve ever seen the movie “1408” with John Cusack, it is rumored to be loosely based on this room.) Eventually, the hotel turned room 303 into a custodial closet, after constant complaints from its guests. They reported the odor of whiskey and vomit to take over the room. And they reported to have seen and heard strange noises. Laughter and sounds of a rowdy party echoed throughout the room at all hours of the night. Not the best place to get a good night’s sleep. Charles Dickens lived at the hotel at one point and reportedly his image appears in the mirror on the mezzanine level. Below is an early photograph of the Parker House:
Our tour came to an end, as we turned the corner back to the starting point. And I left with a few good stories, a craving for pie, and a few more chills up my spine.
