Report on the Garrity House, circa 1980

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INTRODUCTION Set on the northwestern corner of the property of historic Buckman Tavern, and bordering Lexington Green, the Garrity House is a key element of Lexington' s National Register Battle Green Historic District While early mapsl show that the house did not stand in its present location at the time of the Battle of Lexington in 1776 , the small building augments our present sense of the town' s history on several levels The Garrity House stands as one of the few remaining structures from the Merriam Estate, which was once very large and prominent in the Lexington community Its small size and scale are unique among the buildings bordering the Battle Green today, but are characteristic of most of Lexington' s early residences , which were inhabited by a relatively poor farming community It is because this social and economic class formed the majority of the town' s early population that Lexington became a center of revolutionary spirit2 Thus, although the modest Greek Revival style of the Garrity House has little architectural pretense, its preservation is mandated by the fact that it alone symbolizes both the historically important Merriam Estate and the early physical and socio- economic setting of revolutionary Lexington In addition, the Garrity House is of architectural importance to Lexington because of its siting Located at what is now the northwestern edge of the Buckman Tavern property across from the Lexington Green and sited unusually close to Hancock Street, the building serves as a boundary to the Green area, completing