Concord History

On Monday, September 2, 2024 (Labor Day), Lafayette reenactor Benjamin J. Goldman will come to First Parish in Concord, commemorating the day and site where the town gave the French general a hero’s welcome two hundred years ago. The public is warmly invited to assemble on the lawn of First Parish to watch a reenactment of Lafayette’s visit to Concord at 3:00 this Labor Day. 

One of the most important decisions we can make is where to spend our time – either on a visit, or when thinking about where to put down roots and build a family and community. One of the aspects of Concord that attracts so many people from around the world to come here – to spend time, or to stay – is the unique essence of ‘place.’

Have you ever wondered what it’s like to be a modern-day minuteman? The Concord Minute Men, established on December 10, 1962, in advance of the bicentennial, is the quintessential colonial unit here in Concord.

Welcome, dear readers, to the story of The Barrow Bookstore, a unique shop featuring rare and gently-read books down the lane at 79 Main Street, Concord, Massachusetts. For 54 years, the Barrow has been owned by three generations of women whose passion for history and literature personify Louisa May Alcott’s quote, “She is too fond of books and it has turned her brain.”

The Wright Tavern Legacy Trust invited visitors and residents alike to a fun celebration of Concord history on the lawn of the tavern this past Patriots’ Day. Did you know that the Wright Tavern is where the Massachusetts Provincial Congress met in 1774 and took the decision to rebel against the crown? 

Each year in Concord, Lexington, and other nearby towns, thousands of people from around the world gather to commemorate the events that led to the American Revolution. Here are a few of the highlights of this year’s events.

There’s nothing like getting wrapped up in a good cozy mystery. For the Agatha Christie lover, true crimes close to home are particularly enlivening. At Concord’s Old Manse Museum, home of the famous Emerson family and witness house to two revolutions, there lurks an unsolved puzzler.

How do you remember heroic souls who have died? In the second century, Greek astronomer Ptolemy did so by taking the memories of those who (to paraphrase Ralph Waldo Emerson) had “shuffled off their corporeal jackets” and slipped them into the stars. Ptolemy named stars and connected them with invisible lines to form the storied constellations known to many in the past and today. 

In 1859, militiamen were a common sight in Concord, having had a presence in the town for over two centuries. Uncommon, however, was the entirety of the Massachusetts Volunteer Militia descending on the town in early September 1859. 

The Old Hill Burying Ground certainly lives up to its name, with its first marked gravestone dating back to 1677 and its last not reaching the twentieth century. The headstones are so old that they jut out of the ground in jagged positions, with most of their writing illegible.