Carved into the granite stands a story. This is the Blackstone Memorial Tablet. It’s not just a monument. It’s a window into Boston’s earliest days.
The Blackstone Memorial Tablet commemorates the purchase of the land that became Boston Common. Erected in 1913 by R Clipston Sturgis it sits near the intersection of Park and Tremont Streets. The tablet is made of slate and granite. It measures roughly 15 feet by 5 feet by 20 feet.
The inscription tells a tale. It speaks of the year 1634. It names John Winthrop the governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. The inscription recounts how Winthrop and his fellow colonists bought the land from Reverend William Blackstone. Blackstone an Anglican hermit had been the sole inhabitant of the area for nearly a decade. This wasn’t a simple land deal. It was the foundation of Boston itself.
The tablet’s text comes from an 1864 deposition. Four elderly men the last survivors of those who witnessed the original transaction provided the testimony. They stated that the town purchased Blackstone’s estate and rights to all lands within the neck of land called Boston. The land was immediately set aside as a common area. That area became the training field and grazing land for the town’s cattle. This deposition has been cited for generations as proof of the people of Boston’s ownership of the Common.
The Blackstone Memorial Tablet isn’t just about a land purchase. It’s about community. It’s about the beginnings of a city. It whispers of a time long past. Yet it echoes powerfully in the bustling city that surrounds it. It reminds us of the enduring legacy of those who came before. The Blackstone Memorial Tablet a silent witness to Boston’s rich and complex history. It stands as a testament to the enduring spirit of a city built on a purchase made centuries ago.