Local News

Storm brings down tree in North End cemetery, crushing four cars

The tree was situated in historic Copp's Hill Burying Ground.

By Ross Cristantiello

April 5, 2024

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This week’s nor’easter brought rain, wind, thundersnow, and even graupel to New England. Its impacts were widespread, causing thousands of power outages, bringing down traffic signals, and flooding towns. And in a North End cemetery, a 50-foot-tall tree toppled to the ground Thursday morning, slamming into four cars and a fence. 

Video of the damage and cleanup efforts circulated on social media. 

During the storm, winds reached upwards of 50 miles an hour. An Ash tree in Copp’s Hill Burying Ground fell around 2:30 a.m. Thursday, The Boston Globe reported. It was about 40 inches in diameter and its age was unknown.

Workers from Northern Tree Service described the damage to a Globe reporter. Windows in four cars were shattered, one roof caved in, and a tree limb had pierced through the dashboard of another vehicle. The workers spent more than six hours in the North End cleaning up the scene, which required breaking down the tree into smaller pieces and feeding them into a woodchipper. 

Copp’s Hill Burying Ground was created in 1659. British troops camped out near it during the Revolutionary War, supposedly using some of the gravestones for target practice, according to the city. More than 10,000 people are buried there, and it has been in continual use as a cemetery since the 1850s. It does not appear that the tree damaged any tombstones as it fell. 

A metal fence surrounding the cemetery was also heavily damaged. Jennifer McGivern, a resident of Snow Hill Street, lives right across from the burying ground. She said she heard the tree go down in the middle of the night, and opened her door to inspect the damage. 

“I’m glad it didn’t fall on a building and it fell where it did,” McGivern told the Globe. “That’s a lot of tree, man.”

Elsewhere in Boston, the Friends of the Public Garden reported that one of the park’s iconic White Willows was destroyed by the storm. Workers will remove it over the coming days, and no one was injured, but members of the public are being encouraged to avoid the debris.