ICYMI: With Battle Road, a Revolution in Brewing

Battle Road Brewing Company will toast the past with a lineup featuring a 1775 Tavern ale, Barrett’s Farmhouse Ale, a Lexington Green East India Pale Ale and a Midnight Ride Tavern Porter.

VIDEO: Modern Day Minute Man Talks Patriots' Day History

Lexington resident Dan Fenn, a member of the town's Minute Man company, discusses the first few hours of the American Revolution, including who really fired the shot heard 'round the world.

Emerson be damned -- Lexington Minute Man Dan Fenn says the “shot heard ‘round the world” was fired in his back yard, but not by colonial militia or the British Regulars. The claim came during a Patriots’ Day program titled “What Really Happened That Day,” in which Fenn asked his audience to travel back 237 years, take a few steps outside of the First Parish in Lexington and envision themselves standing on the area now known as the Battle Green. He started with the weather, saying it probably wasn’t quite sweltering like yesterday’s scorcher the morning of April 19, 1775, but the winter had been warm, the grass was high and the dandelions were in bloom. Meanwhile, tensions running high around Boston had Patriots like Paul Revere and the …

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Patrick Ball

11:32 am on Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Hi there. I unfortunately mixed up the names when the story was originally posted, and the wrong name made it into this morning's newsletter. Is that what you mean by the table of contents?   more ›

VIDEO: A Revolutionary Reenactment on Lexington's Battle Green

History reenacted on Patriots' Day morning.

As the Patriots' Day dawn broke over the Battle Green, a crowd thousands strong stood, along with the Lexington Minutemen, anxiously awaiting the arrival of the British Regulars. They marched on town from the east, as the companies came on April 19, 1775.  And, though it's April 16, 2012, the results looked roughly the same as that fateful morning when American liberty was born. The local militia bravely stood their ground as the Redcoats approached with both numbers and training on their side. Suddenly, a shot rang out, from who know's where. And thus began a brief firefight that left eight men dead, the first veterans to lose their lives in the American Revolution.  This time around, neither the bullets nor the results were real. …

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VIDEO: Liberty Ride Rolling On

The Liberty Ride is celebrating its 10th anniversary year by offering Lexington residents a discounted rate.

Lexington's oldest-souled 10-year-old, the Liberty Ride, is celebrating its first decade with an anniversary present for local residents. Through the end of the season, the Liberty Ride is rolling back rates by more than half for Lexington residents who hop on afternoon tours at the National Heritage Museum. According to a Liberty Ride press release, for the daily 1 or 2:30 p.m. trolley tours, Lexington residents will receive more than a 50 percent discount on current rates as their prices are rolled back a decade to the Ride’s inaugural season (2002). For the remainder of the 2011 season -- which ends Oct. 30 -- adults can board the Liberty Ride for $10 per person; children ages 5-17 only $5. “With Lexington’s 300th anniversary …

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Patch Passport

Travel Back in Time to Munroe Tavern

Travel Back in Time with the Wednesday Patch Passport, to discover the history and roots of Lexington.

Lexington is famous for being home to the first shot of the American Revolution, but it’s beginnings date back more than 100 years prior to April 19, 1775.  First settled as a part of Cambridge in the mid-1600s, the town we know today as Lexington was incorporated as Cambridge Farms in 1691 and then became its own separate town in 1713.  But what put this former farming community on the map—and keeps it there still today—is its place at start of American Revolution. Many structures remain from that important period in the history of the town and country, including the Buckman Tavern, Hancock-Clarke House and Munroe Tavern, all of which the Lexington Historical Society operates as museums. Though they’re all steeped in Revolutionary history…

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Get Out

Five Things to Do This Weekend: April 15 to 17

Patriots' Day activities and a BBQ battle.

It’s Thursday, and you’ve got no idea what you’ll do this weekend.  Lexington Patch is coming to the rescue. We’ve got the best bets for your done-work-outta-here time. Check our picks for the activities you'll want to take part in this weekend in Lexington and beyond. 1. Reenactments reign  Where/When: Parker's Revenge begins at 12 p.m. at the Battle Green and then the Lexington Minutemen march to the battle site on Route 2A, near Minute Man National Historical Park. The Tower Park Battle takes place at 4 p.m. on Massachusetts Avenue, opposite Pelham Road. Why Go: Skilled re-enactors bring back to life important battles from the very beginning of the American Revolution, skirmishes that put Lexington on the map -- and in the history books…

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