Minute Man National Historical Park in Concord, Mass., is a great place to learn about the American Revolution including the famous 1775 ride of Paul Revere as he warned the Colonials about the British invasion.
See Battle Road, where the stone walls alongside afforded Colonials cover as they fired on British troops. On April 19, 1775, British soldiers and American militia, “minute men” met in a series of skirmishes along a 22-mile stretch of the road that ran from Boston to Concord. The five-mile Battle Road Trail for walking, bicycle or wheelchair, follows remnants of the historic road, and visits historic houses, farming fields, wetlands, and forests.
The park includes a tavern dating to 1733 and the home of 19th-century American authors Nathaniel Hawthorne and Louisa May Alcott. The connection to storytellers is fitting for a place that relates one of the most exciting narratives in American history. Though many of us became familiar in grade school with the story that climaxes in “the shot heard round the world,” the tale still captures our imagination.
Learn about minute men — ordinary citizens who unwittingly wrote themselves into history by standing up for their rights — as well as the less known but equally important women of colonial Lexington and Concord.
A good time to visit is in April during Patriot’s Day, where visitors see history brought to life. And don’t miss the pretty little town of Concord, a Norman Rockwell kinda place.
There is no camping in the park.
