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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
Town: Lexington
Place (neighborhood or village): Lexington Green
Address or Location: Massachusetts Avenue
Name: Belfry Site 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: 1910
Source: on plaque
Designer/Sculptor: NA
Materials: boulder, bronze
Alterations (with dates):
none
Condition: good
Moved: _x_ no ___ yes Date
Acreage: NA
Setting: southeast corner of the Green
Recorded by: Lisa Mausolf
Organization: Lexington Historical Commission
Date (month / year): Sept. 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
___ 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.
Northwest of the Minute Man Statue, facing Massachusetts Avenue, is this low boulder with bronze plaque marking the site of
the wooden belfry which stood on the south side of the Green between 1768 and 1797.
HISTORICAL NARRATIVE
Explain the history of the object and how it relates to the development of the community.
This monument was erected by the Daughters of the American Revolution in 1910 to mark the site of the wooden belfry which
stood on the Green from 1768 to 1797 and warned the colonists of the approach of the British on April 19, 1775.
In 1909 a gale wind destroyed the original belfry which had been moved from the Green to Spring Street and then to Belfry Hill.
A reproduction of the belfry was created in 1910 and the same year this monument was erected to mark the belfry’s original
location.
The boulder was dedicated on October 19, 1910. The festivities included a procession from Munroe Tavern to the Battle Green,
a band from the United States Navy Yard at Charlestown, a company of Lexington Minute-Men, and school children singing
“America”. The boulder was unveiled by Miss Elizabeth S. Parker, great-granddaughter of Captain John Parker, who
commanded the Minute-Men on April 19, 1775.
ENTIRE INSCRIPTION (if applicable):
THE SITE
OF
THE OLD BELFRY
FROM WHICH THE ALARM WAS RUNG APRIL 19, 1775
THIS TABLET WAS ERECTED BY THE
LEXINGTON CHAPTER
DAUGHTERS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION
1910
BIBLIOGRAPHY and/or REFERENCES:
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. 504
National Historic Landmark Nomination: Lexington Green, 1974.