Standing twenty-five feet tall, the 1836 Battle Monument was the first monument erected at the famous North Bridge battlefield in Concord Massachusetts. Although the monument towers over the bridge today, it’s construction and legacy remain fraught with controversy.
At this sharp curve in the Bay Road there is a stone grave marker for British soldiers killed on April 19, 1775. In the years following the famed battle, local historians dubbed this segment of road, "The Bloody Angle." Today, this grave marker at the northern curve memorializes those British soldiers buried along the roadside after the fight.
This gravestone marks the burial of British soldiers killed at Meriam's corner on April 19, 1775. These British soldiers were the first to fall during an eight hour running battle from Concord to Boston that afternoon.
On April 19, 1775, fighting between Colonial Militia and British Regulars spilled over the crest of Fiske Hill. When the fighting ended the dead and dying lay strew across the landscape. Local resident Rebecca Fiske remembered coming home to find a dead British Soldier near her doorstep and three horribly wounded men laying within her home. The next day, Rebecca's husband carried two deceased British soldiers to a meadow a short distance from their house for burial.
The Captain William Smith House sits on the Bay Road in Lincoln. It was home to William, wife Catherine, three young children and an enslaved man named Cato. On April 19, 1775 the British column passed by here on their way to Concord and again during their fighting retreat to Boston in the afternoon. A wounded British soldier was left behind and treated at the house. He died and is buried near by.
This house was built in 1705 by Benjamin Barrett, father of James Barrett. On April 19, 1775 British Regulars searched this home looking for stores of artillery and ammunition. Though they found nothing there, Colonel James Barrett and members of his family played significant roles in the first battle of the American Revolutionary War.
Concord's North Bridge marks the second significant military engagement in the first battle of the American Revolution, April 19, 1775. The first was a few hours earlier in Lexington. At the North Bridge the first British soldiers died.
At the eastern base of Fiske Hill, a jagged stone foundation marks the location of the historic Ebenezer Fiske house site. This home constructed in the later portion of the 17th century, formed the nucleus of the prosperous Fiske family farm and included over 70 acres of ground on April 19, 1775. When the sounds of battle echoed through the rolling landscape the Fiske family fled to a safer location while their home bore witness to the brutality of 18th century warfare.
The Elisha Jones, “Bullet Hole House,” built near 1740, boasts a rich history. Only yards from the bloody fighting at Concord’s North Bridge the house is thought to bare the scar of a British musket ball aimed at Elisha Jones on April 19, 1775. In the 19th century the home witnessed the construction and evolution of Concord’s Historical narrative through the life of U.S. Marshal John Shepard Keyes.
Following the fighting at Meriam’s Corner, the now embattled British column continued their march east towards Boston and safety. Elm Brook Hill (formerly know as the "Bloody Angle") is where militiamen from Woburn, Reading and other towns set up a violent attack against the British column. It was here where the British suffered the heaviest concentration of casualties between Concord and Arlington (Menotomy).
Fiske Hill is an elevated position near the western boundary of Lexington, Massachusetts. Gaining its name from the Fiske Family that cultivated the ground during the 18th Century, the hill witnessed intense fighting on April 19, 1775. Colonial Militia used woodlots, stonewalls, and piles of fence rails to attack British Regulars retreating along the Bay Road toward Boston. Today Fiske Hill boasts a diverse natural landscape with numerous hiking trails and historic sites.
Encompassing 45 communities in North Central Massachusetts and Southern New Hampshire, Freedom’s Way connects the people, places and communities of the National Heritage Area through preservation, conservation and educational initiatives to protect and promote the natural, historic and cultural resources of the region.
Go Outdoors is a beautifully crafted recycled door, painted by artist Yetti Frenkel. The door evokes the artists’ memories of children’s books and combines words and images into a portal with qualities of whimsy and magic. “The door is my tribute to my parents and all the wonderful hours they spent reading to me, and the joy those memories still bring.”
At a sharp outcropping of rocky hillside known as “The Bluff,” British regulars fought a rearguard action during their retreat to Boston on April 19, 1775. This gravestone marks the burial of two British soldiers killed in action near this place.
This gravestone makes the final resting place of the first British soldiers killed on April 19, 1775. They were killed during the fight at Concord's North Bridge, of which Ralph Waldo Emerson later wrote, "Here once the embattled farmers stood and fired the shot heard round the world."
On April 19, 1775 British soldiers retreating from Concord, Massachusetts engaged Colonial militia in a running battle toward Boston. According to local legend, one British soldier was mortally wounded near the home of Captain William Smith in Lincoln, MA and left to the mercy of his pursuers. Unfortunately, this soldier perished from his wounds and the Smith family interred him along the battle road in an area known as Folly Pond.
Thaddeus Blood took part in the fighting at North Bridge in Concord, MA, on April 19, 1775, as part of Nathan Barret’s Company. Blood is buried in New Hill Burying Ground later a part of Sleepy Hollow Cemetery in Concord, Ma.
Hartwell Tavern was a well-known stop for travelers on the Bay Road in Lincoln. On April 19, 1775 the British column passed by here on their way to Concord and again during their fighting retreat to Boston in the afternoon. Three of the Hartwell sons, including John and Isaac who lived here, fought as minute men.
The Jacob Whittemore House is the only April 19th witness house in the park that is in the town of Lexington. Paul Revere passed by here on his midnight ride. Later the British column passed by here on their way to Concord, and back again in the afternoon during their fighting retreat back to Boston.
The Job Brooks House sits on the Bay Road. On April 19, 1775 the British regulars marched past here on their way to Concord, then back again during their fighting retreat to Boston. An intense skirmish took place just yards from this house at Elm Brook Hill.
This house was built between 1710 and 1717. In 1775 it was the home of Major John Buttirck of Colonel Abijah Pierce's Minute Man Regiment. On April 19, 1775 Major Buttrick led the advance at Concord's North Bridge and gave the order to fire upon the British soldiers.
Meriam's corner is where colonial militia first attacked the British column during their return march to Boston on April 19, 1775. It was the beginning of the 16 mile running fight known as the Battle Road.
The Nathan Meriam House, built in 1705, is located at the junction of the Lexington and Bedford Roads. It was here that the British column was first attacked by colonial militiamen on the return march to Boston. This spot marks the beginning of the running fight known as the Battle Road.
Parker's Revenge is the name given to the second engagement between the British regulars and the Lexington militia company under Captain John Parker. Despite the significance of the battle the location was a mystery. Between 2012 and 2016 Minute Man NHP, in partnership with the Friends of Minute Man National Park, NPS Northeast Region Archaeology Division, and community partners and volunteers, conducted a historical and archaeological investigation to find it.
This is the spot on the old Concord Road where Paul Revere was captured by a patrol of British officers, thus bringing to an end his famous "midnight ride."
"Playtime For Prince/Black Boy Joy Honoring Prince Estabrook" is a gorgeously decorated, recycled door crafted by regional artist Cassandre Charles. The door explores how enslaved children found joy while also honoring Prince Estabrook a Patriot of Color in the American Revolution.
Samuel Brooks (1739-1811) was living with his widowed mother on land first settled in 1692 by his grandfather Daniel, on the Bay Road in Concord. His house was located on the border of the town of Lincoln in an area that had been owned by members of his family since the mid-17th century. Samuel Brooks was a veteran of the battle on April 19, 1775. On that day the British Army passed by here on their way to Concord and later back again during their fighting retreat to Boston.
This was the home of Samuel Hartwell, his wife Mary, and their three small children. Samuel Hartwell served as a sergeant in the Lincoln Minute Men and was thus part of the fighting in Concord and along the Bay Road on April 19, 1775.
The Bluff is a sharp outcrop of rocks created by dramatic geological forces millions of years ago. On April 19, 1775 British soldiers fought a short rearguard action from this high, wooded overlook during their retreat to Boston. Today the bluff is a prominent geological and historical feature in Minute Man National Historical Park.
Walking from the North Bridge, up the path towards North Bridge Visitor Center, you will notice at a short distance from the curve in the road, a wood rail fence, exposed cellar hole, and to the left, four granite stones laid out in a rectangle. These mark the location and physical remains of the homestead of Captain David Brown, who led his men into battle at Concord’s North Bridge on April 19, 1775.
Today, when you walk from North Bridge Visitor Center down the wide, dirt path to the North Bridge battle site you are actually walking on a colonial road that is over three centuries old! This is the same route taken by the minute man and militia companies when they advanced upon a party of British soldiers at North Bridge on April 19, 1775.
Unveiled for the Centennial celebration of the battle on April 19, 1875, The Minute Man statue, by sculptor Daniel Chester French, is an American icon and has stood guard over this hallowed ground ever since. It is set near the spot where the first colonial militia men were killed in Concord on that fateful day in 1775.
On the morning of April 19, 1775 this tree-less hilltop pasture known as “the Muster Field” served as an important staging ground for nearly 400 Colonial minute men and militia while they observed British soldiers raiding Concord and ultimately formed ranks before advancing against regulars guarding the North Bridge.
British soldiers killed on April 19, 1775 are buried atop this small knoll near the Josiah Nelson farm ruins. The knoll is known locally as "The Soldiers' Graves."
Over more than three hundred years, The Wayside and its families witnessed and influenced both Concord's and America's recorded history. The building interior is closed for the winter. The park grounds surrounding remain open sunrise to sunset.
