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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
/3 Boston
North
AC,
AG,
B
906
Town: Lexington
Place (neighborhood or village): Lexington Green
Address or Location: Massachusetts Avenue
Name: Revolutionary War Monument
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: 1799
Source: on monument
Designer/Sculptor: Thomas Park
Materials: granite, marble
Alterations (with dates):
1835 – fence installed around monument;
New marble tablet on front.
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 906
___ 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 Revolutionary War Monument consists of a granite obelisk set on a simple pedestal consisting of die and plinth. Mounted
on one face of the die is a marble tablet bearing an inscription honoring the eight men who died on the Green on April 19, 1775.
On the front of the monument base are the words “Executed by Tho. Park”.
The monument is surrounded by a simple iron fence.
HISTORICAL NARRATIVE
Explain the history of the object and how it relates to the development of the community.
Erected on July 4, 1799 this was the first Revolutionary monument in the country. The cost of the monument was $400 and
was funded by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Its position marks the approximate location of the west end of the line
formed by the Minute Men on April 19, 1775. The inscription on the monument was composed by Jonas Clarke, minister to
Lexington from 1752 to 1805.
Seven of the eight Americans killed that day are interred in the tomb beneath the monument. The bodies were moved here with
great ceremony on April 20, 1835 from the Old Burying Ground behind the First Parish Church. Edward Everett was the orator.
The iron fence was erected at that time. In 1835 it was also voted to place a new marble tablet in the face of the monument – a
copy of the original one which was made of slate.
INVENTORY FORM C CONTINUATION SHEET LEXINGTON MASS AVE.
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No.
220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD, BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02125
Continuation sheet 2
B 906
ENTIRE INSCRIPTION (if applicable):
Sacred to Liberty & the Rights of mankind!!!
The Freedom & Independence of America,
Sealed & defended with the blood of her sons.
This Monument is erected
By the inhabitants of Lexington
Under the patronage and at the expense of
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts,
To the memory of their Fellow Citizens,
Ensign ROBERT MUNROE, and Messrs. JONAS PARKER,
SAMUEL HADLEY, JONATHAN HARRINGTON, JR.,
ISAAC MUZZY, CALEB HARRINGTON AND JOHN BROWN,
Of Lexington and ASAHEL PORTER of Woburn,
Who fell on this field, the first victims to the
Sword of British Tyranny and Oppression
On the morning of the ever memorable
Nineteenth of April, An. Dom. 1775,
The Die was cast !!!
The Blood of these Martyrs
In the cause of their God and their Country
Was the Cement of the Union of these States, then
Colonies, and gave the spring to the Spirit, Firmness
And Resolution of their Fellow Citizens,
They rose as one man to Revenge their Brethren’s
Blood, and at the Point of the Sword, to Assert
And defend their Native Rights,
They Nobly dar’d to be Free!!
The contest was long, Bloody and Affecting.
Righteous Heaven Approved the Solemn Appeal
Victory crowned their Arms; and
The Peace, Liberty, and Independence of the United
States of America was their Glorious Reward.
Built in the year 1799.
BIBLIOGRAPHY and/or REFERENCES:
Seeley, O.G. Guide Book of Lexington and Concord With Maps and History. Lexington: O.G. Seeley, 1901
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. 191.
National Historic Landmark Nomination, Lexington Green, 1974.
Worthen, Edwin. Calendar History of Lexington, Massachusetts, 1620-1946. Lexington: 1946: p. 42, 59.
INVENTORY FORM C CONTINUATION SHEET LEXINGTON MASS AVE.
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No.
220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD, BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02125
Continuation sheet 3
B 906