Special Event at The Wayside, Home of Authors

Saturday, July 23, 2022

The Wayside, Minute Man National Historical Park

Lexington Road, Concord, MA

10:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.

Free and open to the public

Join us on Saturday, July 23 at The Wayside, Home of Authors for a full day of Civil War living history, an open house, and special guest lectures by Park Ranger Nadia Peattie and Historian Richard Smith. This program honors the 160th Anniversary of Nathanial Hawthorne’s publication of “Chiefly About War Matters” in 1862. Hawthorne and his family resided at The Wayside from 1852-1869.

Following the outbreak of the Civil War in April 1861 hundreds of volunteers departed Concord, Massachusetts to defend their nation teetering on the verge of collapse. From the Battlefields of Virginia to the Hospitals of Washington D.C., Concordians contributed to the war effort in whatever ways they could.

To learn more and view the schedule of events, please click on the button below. 

Written by Nicole Walsh, Curator at Minute Man National Historical Park

A beautifully painted fire screen from The Wayside, Home of Authors was recently preserved thanks to a generous donation from the Old Concord Chapter of the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution (NSDAR) to the Friends of Minute Man. The fire screen is over 120 years old and is associated with the Hawthorne and Lothrop families . . . Read more. 

Image, from left to right: Jeanne Kangas, Kristina Joyce, Charlene Goddard-Lyle, Nicole Walsh, Steve Neth, and Janine Penfield with the recently restored fire screen. Kangas, Joyce, Goddard-Lyle, and Penfield are members of the Old Concord Chapter of the NSDAR. Walsh is Minute Man's curator and Neth serves as a museum technician. Photo courtesy of Karen Weitz. 

To read more and view more photos, please click on the button below. 

Thirsty from your walk up the hill from the North Bridge to the Visitor Center? You can now refill your water bottle or get a drink from the new water fountain and bottle filler at the North Bridge Visitor Center at Minute Man National Historical Park. . . Read more.

To read more about how local organizations REUSIT and Concord on Tap helped to provide a new water fountain at Minute Man, please click on the button below. 

Estrella Sainburg is our summer Trails Planning & GIS Assistant through Environment for the America's Latino Heritage Internship Program. Estrella is currently working on her Masters of Science in Community and Regional Planning at the University of Texas, Austin. While at Minute Man National Historical Park, Estrella will be developing a GIS StoryMap . . .Read more.

Image: Estrella Sainburg at the Minute Man statue. Photo courtesy of Jasmine Nelson Photography

To read more, view more photos, and explore Estrella's blog, please click on the button below.

Daylilies are currently in bloom at the Buttrick Gardens, located next to the North Bridge Visitor Center. Stedman Buttrick II inherited the family estate and gardens in 1925. He and his wife Caroline were well known and respected for their iris and daylily cultivars, receiving honors and awards from the American Iris Society and the American Hemerocallis (Daylily) Society. 

The daylilies will be in bloom for several weeks and feature a wide variety of hues. Plan your visit today! The Buttrick Gardens are open from dawn til dusk and are free and open to the public.

To learn more about the gardens or plan your visit, please click on the link below.

Highlighting the projects of our summer interns 

Wednesday, July 20, 2022

Minute Man Visitor Center

210 North Great Road, Lincoln, MA

2:00 p.m. - 3:30 p.m.

Free and open to the public

Join us to learn about the independent research projects of Minute Man's Resource Management interns. They will share updates on the park's trail stewardship strategy, building rehabilitation plan, Buttrick Gardens treatment, and riparian area ecological health assessment. This is an in-person event; alternatively, if you would like to join virtually or would like more information, please email estrella.sainburg@partner.nps.gov. We hope you will join us to celebrate and discuss the great work happening at the park this summer!

Image: Minute Man Resource Management team in the Buttrick Gardens with the North Bridge visible in the distance. 

Revolution 250 Podcast: Boston Geography and little-known aspects of Boston Tea Party

The Boston of today is vastly different from that of 1775. Join Josiah George, Assistant Creative and Production Manager of the Boston Tea Party Ships & Museum, in a virtual ramble over the 18th-century Boston landscape, using the John Bonner Map (1722) as a guide. Click here to listen.

Ice Cream at the Time of the Revolutionary War

Just in time for summer, local historian and blogger J.L. Bell explores how much George Washington actually spent on ice cream as President. Click here to read. 

Louisa May Alcott's Orchard House: Grow Your Own Little Women Garden

Visit the Orchard House website to learn more about the Little Women Garden that is open to the public on the grounds. Download a pdf to create your own Little Women-inspired garden at home. Click here to learn more.