5 Things: Patriots' Day Edition

A few facts, figures and tidbits about the Massachusetts holiday.

1. What do people do? For some people in the states of Massachusetts and Maine, the third Monday of April is a welcome day off work or school. In the area around Lexington and Concord, re-enactments of the battles in 1775 and the events leading up to them are held. A particular highlight is the opportunity to ring the bell that warned the local troops that British soldiers were approaching. Lectures, concerts and road races are also organized. Click here for a schedule of events today in Concord and Lexington. 2. Public life Patriots' Day is a state holiday in Massachusetts and Maine, where state, county, and municipal offices are closed. However, Patriots' Day is not a federal public holiday and federal offices are open. Many schools are …

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Historical Object of the Week: Items from Paul Revere's Silver Shop

A weekly look at some of Concord’s most historical items.

  Each week we will present an artifact from the Concord Museum collection that speaks to Concord’s storied history. We welcome comments, memories and suggestions for future items. We all know the story of the midnight ride of Paul Revere (1735-1818).  But did you know that Paul Revere’s active silver shop produced tea equipage for Boston-area clients for more than 50 years? These examples in the Concord Museum collection—a silver Sugar Bowl and Creampot —are among the later products of Revere’s shop, and were made about 1800-1810. At the time these pieces were made, Revere derived some of his shapes from, among other sources, contemporary ceramics and Sheffield plated wares. The tea set, of which these pieces were a part, descended in the…

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Historic Concord

A Revolution at Meriam's Corner

A look at one of the oldest houses in Concord, where a decisive battle took place during the beginning of the Revolutionary War.

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 their way towards a secluded ridge near Mill Brook. The Americans are crafty though, and through Paul Revere's famous lanterns in the Old North …

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