Munroe Tavern, located at 1332 Massachusetts Avenue,

Lexington, Massachusetts Lexington is a suburban town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is 10 miles (16 km) from Downtown Boston. The population was 34,454 as of the 2020 census. The area was originally inhabited by Native Americans, and was firs ...

, is an

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

site that played a prominent role in the

Battle of Lexington and Concord The Battles of Lexington and Concord were the first military engagements of the American Revolutionary War. The battles were fought on April 19, 1775, in Middlesex County, Province of Massachusetts Bay, within the towns of Lexington, Concord, ...

. It is now preserved and operated as a museum by the

Lexington Historical Society The Lexington Historical Society, founded in 1886 in Lexington, Massachusetts, preserves and celebrates Lexington's history, with a special emphasis on the town's important role in the beginning of the American Revolution. The Society presents e ...

, with exhibits highlighting the role and perspective of the British soldiers during the outbreak of the war. The house is open for guided tours on weekends starting in April and daily from Memorial Day weekend until the end of October. The Munroe family line in America was begun by William Munroe (1625–1719), who was transported (along with his brothers) to New England in 1651 following his capture at the

Battle of Worcester The Battle of Worcester took place on 3 September 1651 in and around the city of Worcester, England and was the last major battle of the 1639 to 1653 Wars of the Three Kingdoms. A Parliamentarian army of around 28,000 under Oliver Cromwell def ...

. The earliest part of the Tavern was constructed in 1735 on land then owned by David Comee.http://www.lexingtonhistory.org/uploads/6/5/2/1/6521332/munroehsrjan2010_web.pdf Later the proprietor rights were given to others., Internet Archiv

Retrieved 2011-09-20 Another William Munroe (American soldier), William Munroe (1742–1827), the great-grandson of the original William,, Internet Archiv

Retrieved 2011-09-20 purchased the house in 1770, and in October 1774 was granted a taverner's license from the town, shortly before the outbreak of hostilities in April 1775. On April 18, 1775, one day before the outbreak of the battle, Munroe Tavern was a meeting spot for colonials, owned by William Munroe, orderly sergeant of Captain John Parker (captain), John Parker's militia company, and proprietor of the tavern until 1827. At 6:30 p.m. that evening, Solomon Brown of Lexington, who had gone to the market in Boston, returned and reported to Munroe that he had passed a patrol of British soldiers.David Hackett Fischer, "Paul Revere's Ride" Munroe Tavern, Massachusetts Avenue, Lexington, Mass

Munroe Tavern, Massachusetts Avenue, Lexington, Mass

A large force of British troops arrived at Lexington before dawn the next morning, and shots were exchanged on the

town common Common land is land owned by a person or collectively by a number of persons, over which other persons have certain common rights, such as to allow their livestock to graze upon it, to collect wood, or to cut turf for fuel. A person who has a r ...

, beginning the

Battles of Lexington and Concord The Battles of Lexington and Concord were the first military engagements of the American Revolutionary War. The battles were fought on April 19, 1775, in Middlesex County, Province of Massachusetts Bay, within the towns of Lexington, Concord ...

. That afternoon the tavern served as the headquarters for Col. Hugh, Earl Percy, and his one thousand reinforcements. The British occupied the tavern for one and one-half hours, during which time the dining room was converted into a field hospital for the wounded, while exhausted British soldiers consumed liberal quantities of food and drink. The troops also shot down John Raymond, an infirm man residing in the family. President

George Washington George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of th ...

dined at the Munroe Tavern when he visited the Lexington battlefield in 1789. An upstairs room now contains the table and chair at which he sat and documents relating to his trip. In the late 19th century, a Munroe descendant who owned the house rented out part of it to artist Edwin Graves Champney (1842–1899). The house was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

in 1976. The

now employs the Tavern for the Museum of the British Redcoats, providing a view of April 19, 1775 from the perspective of the King's troops. The building underwent renovation and restoration work in 2010–2011.

Popular culture

Munroe Tavern appears in the 2012 video game ''

Assassin's Creed III ''Assassin's Creed III'' is a 2012 action-adventure video game developed by Ubisoft Montreal and published by Ubisoft for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Wii U, and Microsoft Windows. It is the fifth major installment in the ''Assassin's Creed'' series ...

''.

External links

Lexington Historical Society: Munroe Tavern

http://www.city-data.com/picfilesc/picc13277.php

References

{{National Register of Historic Places in Massachusetts Buildings and structures completed in 1695 1775 in the Thirteen Colonies American Revolutionary War sites in Massachusetts Historic house museums in Massachusetts Houses in Lexington, Massachusetts Buildings and structures in Lexington, Massachusetts Massachusetts in the American Revolution Drinking establishments on the National Register of Historic Places in Massachusetts Museums in Middlesex County, Massachusetts Houses in Middlesex County, Massachusetts National Register of Historic Places in Middlesex County, Massachusetts Taverns in the American Revolution 1695 establishments in Massachusetts American Revolution on the National Register of Historic Places American Revolutionary War museums in Massachusetts

Popular culture

See also

External links

References