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Follow Massachusetts Historical Commission Survey Manual instructions for completing this form.
FORM C − OBJECT
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION
MASSACHUSETTS ARCHIVES BUILDING
220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02125
Photograph
Topographic or Assessor's Map
Assessor’s Number USGS Quad Area(s) Form Number
49/3 Boston
North
AC,
AG,
B
904
Town: Lexington
Place (neighborhood or village): Lexington Green
Address or Location: Massachusetts Avenue
Name: Battle Line Boulder
Ownership: __x__ Public ____ Private
Type of Object (check one):
___ statue
___ bust
___ group composition
___ religious shrine
_x__ monument
___ milestone
___ marker
___ boundary marker
___other (specify)
Date of Construction: 1884
Source: Historic Monuments & Tablets Erected by the
Town
Designer/Sculptor: NA
Materials: granite
Alterations (with dates): none
Condition: good
Moved: _x_ no ___ yes Date
Acreage: 2.54 acres (entire Green)
Setting: the Green
Recorded by: Lisa Mausolf
Organization: Lexington Historical Commission
Date (month / year): Oct. 2009
INVENTORY FORM C CONTINUATION SHEET LEXINGTON MASS AVE.
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No.
220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD, BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02125
Continuation sheet 1
B 904
___ Recommended for listing in the National Register of Historic Places.
If checked, you must attach a completed National Register Criteria Statement form.
DESIGN ASSESSMENT
Describe the design features of the object and evaluate in terms of other similar types of objects within the community.
The east end of the line formed by the Minute Men on April 19th is marked by a rough granite boulder near Bedford Street. On
the smooth face are a raised flintlock musket and powder horn. Carved in deeply cut letters are the words Captain Parker
reportedly spoke to his men.
HISTORICAL NARRATIVE
Explain the history of the object and how it relates to the development of the community.
This monument was one of several erected by a historical committee on monuments established by Town Meeting in March
1884. A total of $1500 was appropriated for the project and this monument cost $245. The others include the Stone Cannon at
1475 Massachusetts Avenue, the Hayward Well Monument, the Bluff Monument and the Meetinghouses Marker on the Green.
The stone, weighing an estimated 12 to 15 tons, was hauled about two miles from the woods on the old Muzzey property in the
western part of the town. The use of the native rough granite boulder was intended to symbolize the character of the men who
fought on the Green on April 19, 1775. The stone was placed on a deep, firmly laid cemented foundation with the exposed
section about six feet above the general level of the common.
The words inscribed on the marker were found in a letter of Theodore Parker’s, giving some account of his ancestor.
ENTIRE INSCRIPTION (if applicable):
LINE OF THE MINUTE MEN
APRIL 19, 1775
STAND YOUR GROUND.
DON’T FIRE UNLESS FIRED UPON
BUT IF THEY MEAN TO HAVE A WAR
LET IT BEGIN HERE
CAPTAIN PARKER
BIBLIOGRAPHY and/or REFERENCES:
Historic Monuments and Tablets Erected by the Town of Lexington 1884. Lexington: 1884, p. 13-14.
Hudson, Charles. History of the Town of Lexington from its first settlement to 1868 (Revised and Continued to 1912 by the
Lexington Historical Society). Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1913, vol. 1, p. 551.