Munroe Tavern, Lexington Landmark Near Boston

Historic Revolutionary War Inn Where Shot Heard Round the World

Sep 21, 2009 Linda Ashar

The old Munroe Tavern still stands in Lexington, MA, a testimony to the passionate conflict between the Minutemen and the British that set off the American Revolution.

The historic and picturesque town of Lexington, Massachusetts lies about 11 miles out from Boston. A mile from Lexington's green is the Munroe Tavern, now a property of the Lexington Historical Society, at 1332 Massachusetts Avenue.

This building is one of the few old New England inns that has stayed intact since its beginning. The building has stood there since 1695.

Taverns, or inns, were important mainstays in the American colonies. They were providers of more than bed, food and drink. They were the news centers, a solid grapevine for the passing of information and for social gathering. Such was the case for the Munroe Tavern on a special day in history in 1775.

Today the Munroe Tavern serves as a museum with a focus on the British soldiers who used it in the American Revotutionary War period. The building figured prominently as a military site on the day of the battle of Lexington and Concord, April 19, 1775, the day the "shot heard round the world" kicked off the American Revolutionary War.

On that day the British came to occupy the Munroe Tavern in the stew of revolution.

April 19, 1775 at Lexington and Concord, the Day of the Shot Heard Round the World

A visit to Lexington and the Munroe Tavern lifts the veil of time on American history. The American patriots knew the British miltary would be coming by land or sea to occupy and put down fomenting rebellion. Minutemen were the American colonial soldiers who had been busy preparing to fight outside Boston.

On April 18th, the day before the fateful battle, some of Captain John Parker's Minutemen and other colonial leaders of note met at the Munroe Tavern. While there they received information of British troop movements on the Boston road.

During that night outriders including Paul Revere rode to Lexington and Concord to warn that the British were coming. Part of Revere's mission, ultimately concluded despite his being held by the British for a time en route, was to retrieve important papers left by John Hancock at The Buckman Tavern, another Lexington establishment.

British troops arrived in Lexington to be met by Captain Parker's Yankee Minutemen, who had been amassing their own arsenal. The first shots of the American Revolution were heard on Lexington's green and at the bridge in nearby Concord.

On this day the first "shot heard round the world" set world-changing events in motion. Munroe Tavern was in the middle of it.

The British at Munroe Tavern

Surprised by the Minutemen's preparedness and advance, the British retreated into the Munroe Tavern and commandeered it for food and drink. For a brutal hour and a half they used the tavern as their field quarters and hospital for wounded, joined there by 1000 reinforcements under British Brigadier General Percy.

In her book, Old New England Inns (L.C. Page & Co., 1912) at p. 112, Mary Catherine Crawford wrote the following about the British occupation of the tavern that day:

"At the Munore Tavern in Lexington the brutality which disgraces the English soldiery of April 19, 1775, first became evident. [Gen.] Percy reached this tavern with reinforcements about two o'clock in the afternoon. One party of his men entered the house and, after compelling the inmates to serve them to whatever they wanted, ruthlessly shot down John Raymond, an infirm man residing in the family, only because he had become alarmed at their roughnessand brutal conduct, and attempted to leave the house for a place of greater safety."

A bullet hole still visible in the taproom ceiling attests to the British soldiers' activities that day.

The Munroe Tavern Today, A Historical Landmark

Eventually the British moved on and the Munroe Tavern returned to colonial hands. In 1789 George Washington visited the Munroe Tavern. A display of artifacts commemorating his visit is included in its upstairs exhibits. Many interesting items from the inn's notable history and the British occupation on that fateful day of the Revolution are on view.

The Munroe Tavern is a historical landmark and echoes with the voices and sounds of a day that proved to be a watershed in American History. It is a place where one can walk in the footsteps of the valiant determined Minutemen, Samuel Adams, John Hancock, Paul Revere, John Adams, Captain John Parker, George Washington, and countless more.

So many of these patriots - and British soldiers too -- gathered at the Munroe Tavern during a time that has become iconic in American history. In its pleasant, peaceful setting today, listen carefully for the sound of the guns, the hoofbeats and the shouts for liberty.

For more information:

Lexington Historical Society

Lexington MA Local Guide and Travel Planner

The copyright of the article Munroe Tavern, Lexington Landmark Near Boston in NE U.S. Travel is owned by Linda Ashar. Permission to republish Munroe Tavern, Lexington Landmark Near Boston in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

Munroe Tavern, Lexington, MA

Statue of Minuteman Cpt Parker in Lexington