As our nation celebrates the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, this issue explores the people, ideas, and stories that continue to shape its legacy. Inside, Professor Robert A. Gross offers fresh perspective in “A Referendum on Independence,” while a special foldout guide, “Following in Thoreau’s Footsteps,” invites you to explore the landscapes that inspired him. Discover an unexpected connection in “A Tale of Two Authors,” revisit the moving story of “A Hawthorne Homecoming,” and enjoy summer events, arts, and ways to experience Concord firsthand.
The Timothy Wheeler House, a Greek Revival home with a distinctive columned portico and gabled roof, has housed the Concord Home for the Aged since 1887. It was named for Timothy Wheeler, who owned the site and the land across the street where he operated a grist mill.
This is the story of a letter that survived time to link together a centuries-long quest for liberty, a group of red-hot abolitionists, a British woman cloaked in scandal, and a Concord house tied to the Underground Railroad. Written by Senator Charles Sumner in 1860 and making its way to Concord via Barrow Bookstore, the letter leads one to ask, “What would you do for a cause in which you believed?”
Few American writers are as closely connected to a place as Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862). The landscapes of Concord and the surrounding towns—today part of Freedom’s Way National Heritage Area—shaped his ideas, inspired his writing, and helped define a philosophy that continues to influence readers around the world.
This itinerary follows Thoreau’s journey through the places that mattered most to him. From his birthplace at Thoreau Farm to his final resting place in Sleepy Hollow Cemetery, these homes, buildings, fields, forests, and waterways reveal the people and topography that helped form one of America’s most influential thinkers.
