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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
39/53 Boston
North
D 911
Town: Lexington
Place (neighborhood or village): Munroe Tavern Historic
District
Address or Location: 1412 Massachusetts Avenue
Name: British Retreat Marker
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):
Date? – gilding removed/worn off
Condition: good
Moved: _x_ no ___ yes Date
Acreage: NA
Setting: sidewalk south of Bloomfield Street
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
D 911
___ 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.
Marker is a simple low rectangular block of rough granite 30” x 20” x 6”. Inscription is incised into the smooth face.
HISTORICAL NARRATIVE
Explain the history of the object and how it relates to the development of the community.
At town meeting in March 1884 a historical committee on monuments was established to mark historic sites in the town of
Lexington. This monument was one of three memorial stones erected to identify places of importance in the story of the British
retreat on April 19, 1775. The other two related sites were Fiske Hill and the Hayward Well, both now located within the Minute
Man National Historic Park. Other monuments erected by the committee include the Stone Cannon at 1475 Massachusetts
Avenue, the Battle Line Boulder on the Green and the Meetinghouses Marker on the Green.
This marker was placed in the wall on Massachusetts Avenue, a little south of Bloomfield Street, near the spot where the
Mulliken house and shop were burned by the British. It notes that a British field piece was planted on the hill to the south by Earl
Percy. The other field piece was located near the former Muzzey School and is marked by the stone cannon in the front yard.
During the retreat, Percy briefly used the Munroe Tavern as a field hospital.
ENTIRE INSCRIPTION (if applicable):
ON THE HILL TO THE SOUTH
WAS PLANTED
ONE OF THE BRITISH FIELD PIECES
APRIL 19, 1775
TO COMMAND THE VILLAGE
AND ITS APPROACHES
AND NEAR THIS PLACE
SEVERAL BUILDINGS WERE BURNED
BIBLIOGRAPHY and/or REFERENCES:
Historic Monuments and Tablets Erected by the Town of Lexington 1884. Lexington: 1884, p. 9-10.