Everybody Must Get Stoned

From Dave Brigham:

This is the Boston Stone, which is a quirky little thing in a funky little slice of old Boston not far from Faneuil Hall. As with so many pieces of the past, the stone has dubious stories attached to it.

Located on Marshall Street in the tangle of cobblestone streets where countless tourists visit the Union Oyster House, the Bell In Hand Tavern and Durty Nelly's, the stone was, according to accepted history, once used in a nearby mill to grind pigments used for paints. After that mill was demolished, workers building a foundation for a new structure found the stone and embedded it in the low wall. For some reason known only to them.

From Atlas Obscura:

"Some sources claim the stone marks the geographic center of Boston and that local surveyors used it to measure distances to the city from outlying points in the same way the London Stone allegedly was utilized during Roman times. This theory is countered by the fact that most of the region’s mile markers measure the distance to Boston from the site of the Old State House, not from the Boston Stone location. In addition, there is some evidence suggesting that the marker may have been given the “Boston Stone” designation by a Marshall Street merchant in an attempt to increase business to the area through the creation of a fictitious landmark. It remains a mystery why the year 1737 was given as the date for the stone’s inscription."

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