Lexington and Concord

It was another beautiful day in Boston, partly sunny and a high of 68 degrees. We took a day trip to Lexington and Concord. Our first stop was at the Minute Man Visitor Center in the Minute Man National Park. The park lies west of I-95 and between Lexington and Concord along highway 2A, which somewhat parallels the original road the British marched on into Concord. They showed a 25 minute movie of the events of April 19, 1775.

From there, we drove about a mile west to the Samuel Hartwell house. There were two Park Service employees who gave a 30 minute talk on some of the events of the day. They explained how the militia was organized and how they drilled. It was mandatory for anyone between 16 and 60 to belong if they were of able body. The clergy was an exception. All very interesting.

After lunch it was on to the North Bridge. This is where the Colonists fired the first shot of the war. “The shot that was heard around the world.” A few people were killed by the British in Lexington before they marched to Concord but the Colonists never returned fire. We visited Lexington last and saw where this happened. It is a triangle shaped piece of ground about a block long called Lexington Green. In 1899 a monument was erected there to commemorate the event. The victims were reburied around the monument.

So much for the history lesson but it was interesting. We were here in 1972 and I really don’t remember much. I do remember being at the North Bridge but didn’t remember what it looked like. One plaque said it was the 6th bridge that had been there so it could be a different one. I’ll have to see if we have a picture from when we were here before. We will update more later. We are not sure what we will see tomorrow.