Lexington and Concord: A Camera Impression

Foreword

Every American, since his early school days, has been definitely conscious of the two tranquil New England towns which share the distinction of being the birthplace of the American Revolution. Their story has been told so well and so often, in prose, poetry and historical writing, that this small volume would have scant raison d’être if it were not for the fact that good pictures of Lexington and Concord are curiously rare.

Visual reminders of those stirring days still exist in surprising number all over this countryside. The scenes of the heroic stands made by the minutemen on Lexington Common and at Concord Bridge have been preserved virtually unchanged, thanks to the vigilance of patriotic citizens. The buildings most intimately associated with the epochal events of April 19, 1775 are still in place, to add their eloquent testimony to the story that every schoolchild knows so well. Even more personal are the homes of Concord’s authors, which remain to give a graphic insight into the days of the 19th century when Concord was a significant center of American culture. Spared the unlovely intrusion of factories by their inland sites, these calm townships have kept their rural beauty. Their natural landscape remains unblemished, a pure joy today as it was in Thoreau’s time.

Historical importance here is matched by physical beauty, a fact which strikes every visitor forcibly, and which this little book strives to prove by a series of photographic impressions. These have been taken in all seasons of the year, to portray the varied moods of the countryside. The pictures follow a path approximating the march of the British on that historic morning of April 19, 1775. Beginning in the neighborhood of East Lexington and the Munroe Tavern, on the eastern outskirts of Lexington, they progress to the Battle Green and the Hancock-Clarke house in Lexington, then along the Battle Road through Lincoln, and finally down Concord’s legendary streets, ending at Concord Bridge where the British fired the “shot heard round the world.”

Visitors who have had the enriching experience of following a similar path come away with an inspired picture of this epic moment in American history. These pages do not attempt to record the familiar written story of Lexington and Concord, but they do aspire to capture a fragment of this inspired picture, as it exists today.

Transcriber’s Notes

--Silently corrected palpable typos; left non-standard spellings and dialect unchanged.

--Moved some captions closer to the corresponding pictures.

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