April 19, 1775 Witness Houses

This house was built between 1710 and 1717. In 1775 it was the home of Major John Buttirck of Colonel Abijah Pierce's Minute Man Regiment. On April 19, 1775 Major Buttrick led the advance at Concord's North Bridge and gave the order to fire upon the British soldiers.

Over more than three hundred years, The Wayside and its families witnessed and influenced both Concord's and America's recorded history. The building interior is closed for the winter. The park grounds surrounding remain open sunrise to sunset.

The Captain William Smith House sits on the Bay Road in Lincoln. It was home to William, wife Catherine, three young children and an enslaved man named Cato. On April 19, 1775 the British column passed by here on their way to Concord and again during their fighting retreat to Boston in the afternoon. A wounded British soldier was left behind and treated at the house. He died and is buried near by.

This house was built in 1705 by Benjamin Barrett, father of James Barrett. On April 19, 1775 British Regulars searched this home looking for stores of artillery and ammunition. Though they found nothing there, Colonel James Barrett and members of his family played significant roles in the first battle of the American Revolutionary War.

The Elisha Jones, “Bullet Hole House,” built near 1740, boasts a rich history. Only yards from the bloody fighting at Concord’s North Bridge the house is thought to bare the scar of a British musket ball aimed at Elisha Jones on April 19, 1775. In the 19th century the home witnessed the construction and evolution of Concord’s Historical narrative through the life of U.S. Marshal John Shepard Keyes.

Hartwell Tavern was a well-known stop for travelers on the Bay Road in Lincoln. On April 19, 1775 the British column passed by here on their way to Concord and again during their fighting retreat to Boston in the afternoon. Three of the Hartwell sons, including John and Isaac who lived here, fought as minute men.

The Job Brooks House sits on the Bay Road. On April 19, 1775 the British regulars marched past here on their way to Concord, then back again during their fighting retreat to Boston. An intense skirmish took place just yards from this house at Elm Brook Hill.

The Nathan Meriam House, built in 1705, is located at the junction of the Lexington and Bedford Roads. It was here that the British column was first attacked by colonial militiamen on the return march to Boston. This spot marks the beginning of the running fight known as the Battle Road.

Samuel Brooks (1739-1811) was living with his widowed mother on land first settled in 1692 by his grandfather Daniel, on the Bay Road in Concord. His house was located on the border of the town of Lincoln in an area that had been owned by members of his family since the mid-17th century. Samuel Brooks was a veteran of the battle on April 19, 1775. On that day the British Army passed by here on their way to Concord and later back again during their fighting retreat to Boston.

This was the home of Samuel Hartwell, his wife Mary, and their three small children. Samuel Hartwell served as a sergeant in the Lincoln Minute Men and was thus part of the fighting in Concord and along the Bay Road on April 19, 1775.