Many will say that there is perhaps no greater place in Concord, or the whole of New England for that matter, to engage in as much living history than Minute Man National Park, located at 174 Liberty Street. “At Minute Man National Historical Park the opening battle of the Revolution is brought to life as visitors explore the battlefields and structures associated with April 19, 1775, and witness the American revolutionary spirit through the writings of the Concord authors,” details Minute Man's website. The park is open daily during the summer months from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m and offers a copious…

It's 12:30 p.m. on April 19, 1775 and a band of roughly 300 Americans led by militia strategist Major Buttrick have been routing the British with guerrilla tactics. The colonists are making their way across Massachusetts in hopes of destroying militia weapons depots 20 miles west of Boston in the sleepy town of Concord. Under orders from Massachusetts Governor, Thomas Gage, by way of King George III's decree to squash the American uprising, 700 British troops, commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Francis Smith and Marine Major John Pitcairn, are forced to retreat from the Old North Bridge and make…

The house that grapes built. Grapevine Cottage on 491 Lexington Road, once owned and operated by the great grape cultivator, Ephraim Wales Bull (1806-1895), still stands as one of Concord great testaments to it's storied history. What was so innovative about this particular grape? The Concord Grape is a particularly strong plant with an extra tart and therefore distinct taste. Strains in Europe, which were winter crops in the warmer climates of places like France and Spain, couldn't survive when brought to North American shores due to the chill. The Concord Grape was the first grape to be …

The First Parish Church first hosted a gathering July 15, 1636 in New Town – in what would be modern day Cambridge. The first Reverend's to lead what the puritan settlers called “meetings” were Rev. Peter Bulkeley and Rev. John Jones. From here the church flourished and became a central figure in the political and spiritual make-up of early Concord. In October of 1774, after British troops took over Harvard dorms in the infamous Boston blockade, the church functioned as classrooms for Harvard students and even helped to find homes for the wayward students throughout the community. “Students …

"A lake is the landscape's most beautiful and expressive feature. It is Earth's eye; looking into which the beholder measures the depth of his own nature." The above quote is from Walden Pond's most famous inhabitant, the transcendentalist author, Henry David Thoreau. Thoreau made Walden Pond his home for two years from 1845-1847 where he worked on his most magnanimous works, the essay, Civil Disobedience, and the novel on simple living and nature named after the pond itself – Walden. So what made this humble piece of 61-acre “kettle-hole” (created by glaciers) pond and surrounding area such …

It's easy to take the historical parts of Concord for granted when you have lived in the area for a while. Anyone who has spent enough time in New England tends to learn about the Old North Church, The Boston Massacre, "The Shot Heard 'Round the World" - we are continually surrounded by the historic evidence of the birth of our nation. When I visited the Concord Museum, I expected what I'd learned over the years to come rushing back. What I didn't expect was how much I didn't know about Concord's (and early America's) tumumltuos history. The Concord Museum, located on 53 Cambridge Turnpike (…