This Witness to 1775 banner will be displayed in front of 24 structures that were standing during the Battle of Lexington 250 years ago and remain today. PHOTO COURTESY LEX250
The Town of Lexington is fortunate to have many reminders of the battle that launched the birth of our nation. Among them are 24 structures that stood on that fateful day of the “shot heard round the world.” These structures will now witness history again as Lexington celebrates the 250th anniversary of the Battle on April 19.
Those buildings are now recognized as Witness to 1775 Houses, and their current owners will proudly fly gold banners outside the structures to celebrate their history.
On Wednesday, March 12, the Lex250 Commission unveiled its Witness to 1775 Houses banner project, an effort nearly nine months in the making. The Commission established the project to identify and honor each of the known pre-1775 Lexington structures with a small ground banner to remain in place seasonally for 2025 and 2026.
Working group members Rachel Van Emon, Bebe Fallick, Judy Crocker, and Sam Doran were instrumental in bringing the idea, adopted earlier in neighboring Concord, to life in Lexington. On Wednesday, during an evening ceremony in the lobby of Cary Hall, they presented the banners to more than a dozen residents who were able to attend. The night began with a performance from the William Diamond Junior Fife & Drum Corps.
“We appreciate your effort to steward the historical site you own and display this banner, hopefully every season, in order to share our Lexington history and its significance for our nation to both its residents and visitors,” said Van Emon, who led the working group and was the donor who made the project possible. “We’re the fortunate descendants of those who stood for the ideals that founded our nation.”
The following are the 24 Witness to 1775 Houses, and the names they were called back in 1775:
• John Buckman Tavern: 1 Bedford St.
• Nathan Reed House: 282 Bedford St.
• Josiah Smith House: 26 Blossom St.
• Joseph Simonds House: 9 Burlington St.
• John Harrington House: 70 East St.
• Amos Muzzey House: 42 Forest St.
• Buckman Tavern Outbuildings: 9 Hancock St.
• Rev. Jonas Clarke Parsonage: 36 Hancock St.
• Dr. Joseph Fiske House: 63 Hancock St.
• Abigail Harrington/Jonathan Harrington House: 1 Harrington Road
• Joseph Smith House: 50 Kendall Road
• Samuel Bridge House: 271 Marrett Road
• Joseph Bridge/Eli Burdoo House: 419 Marrett Road
• Thomas Fessenden House/Bowman: 837 Massachusetts Ave.
• Fessenden House: 898 Mass. Ave.
• Nathaniel Farmer House: 1295 Mass. Ave.
• John Mason House: 1303 Mass. Ave.
• Samuel Sanderson House: 1314 Mass. Ave.
• Munro Tavern: 1332 Mass. Ave.
• Matthew Mead/Levi Mead House: 1505 Mass. Ave. #3
• Marrett and Nathan Munroe House: 1906 Mass. Ave.
• John Parkhurst House: 2173 Mass. Ave.
• Solomon and James Brown House: 36 Woburn St.
• Benjamin Merriam House: 37-39 Woburn St.
Of the 24 structures that stood in Lexington in 1775 and are still standing today, some of them are 350-plus years old, and others were as new as 5 years old when the Battle of Lexington occurred. The gold banner they will display depicts the Captain Parker statue, located on the Lexington Green, and a Lex250 logo.
“Out of these 24 houses, we see the homes of 15 Minute Men and 14 soldiers who fought elsewhere in the Revolutionary War,” Doran said. “Beyond that, we see homes of leather tanners, cordwainers, and the stories of their families — one of them also the home of a free Black man who was indentured into servitude after he was born. These are some really interesting stories that are tied to these pieces of our landscape.”
Coming soon to Lex250.org will be the House Histories, a 50-plus-page document providing information about the address, estimated original construction year, and the name generally used for the property by local historians. The descriptions will include a house history and updated and historic photographs of the structures. There will also be a map of the houses’ locations, which will also be available in the Lexington Visitors Center.
The Witness to 1775 Houses page can be located at Lex250.org/WitnessHouses.
“Here in Lexington, we decided that we would identify those houses that may not have been right along the path of the Red Coats and the Lexington Militia, but they were standing in 1775, and they are still standing and being carefully cared for by their owners today,” said Fallick, a Lex250 Commission member.
The Witness to 1775 banner project working group would like to give a special thanks to the Lex250 Commission and Chair Suzie Barry, Lexington History Museums, Lexington Minute Men, photographer Paul Doherty, and the William Diamond Junior Fife & Drum Corps.
The Commission would also like to remind residents that most of the 24 structures are private residences and not open to the public. While most can be viewed from public property, the Commission reminds residents to respect the owners’ private property.
“In the document, every Witness House has our logo on it, which is the flag, we have Paul Doherty’s recent color photo, and then we have Sam Doran’s historical synopsis of the structure,” said Crocker, who is organizing all the history, photos, and stories into one document that will live at Lex250.org. “Everything else is a fun fact. This is just a snapshot in time. This is not meant to be a public treatise of any sort whatsoever. We’re just trying to make this fun and light.”
Lex250 Commission Chair Suzie Barry thanked the working group members for the time they devoted to the project.
“I would like to thank Rachel, Bebe, Sam, and Judy for all their hard work in leading the Witness House banner project,” Chair Barry said. “The presentation of banners was a wonderful community event to help us kick off the final days leading up to April 19, 2025.”
