Minute Man Soldier Search

The Friends of Minute Man National Park are proud to introduce Minute Man Soldier Search, a searchable database now available on our website. Thank you to the Massachusetts Society of the Cincinnati and the Lincoln Minute Men for supporting this online resource.

The Minute Man Soldier Search database includes the names of almost 4,000 militiamen, companies, and towns that participated in the opening battles of the Revolution on April 19, 1775. This interactive database is a great place to start your Revolutionary War, Patriots of Color, and genealogical research. . . . Read more.

Learn more about Minute Man Soldier Search by clicking on the button below.

Soldier Search

Happy Valentines Day!

This handmade doily is from The Wayside: Home of Authors at Minute Man National Historical Park and dates to the 19th century. It features scalloped edges and is embroidered with flowers and dots on white cotton cloth. This white-on-white embroidery style became popular in the late 18th century and remained so until the late 19th century. According to the park archives, Ellen Emerson may have embroidered it.

Click here to view more photos of this object.

Winter Lecture

“Minutemen Revisited: Rethinking Concord’s Role in the Revolution.

A Conversation with Robert Gross and Friends”

Sunday, Feb. 26, 2023

2:00 p.m.

Online via zoom

Free and open to the public

We are delighted to announce that local author Robert A. Gross will join us for our annual winter lecture. We'll meet via zoom this year and discuss his revised and expanded edition of The Minutemen and Their World in conversation with Joel Bohy, J.L. Bell, and Jim Hollister. Join us for this lively discussion!

To register for the online lecture, please click on the button below.

Lecture Registration

Become a Volunteer at Minute Man!

Do you have a passion for history? Minute Man National Historical Park is looking for Visitor Services volunteers to help staff the visitor centers, give talks at the iconic North Bridge, and greet visitors on the Battle Road Trail from May to October. They also need assistance with crowd control and parking at special events such as Patriots’ Day and Battle Road in April. Please contact park ranger Roger Fuller at roger_fuller@nps.gov for more information.

Stone Wall Stroll

Historic stone wall researcher Richard T.T. Forman recently took the Friends of Minute Man and park staff on a tour of historic stone walls in Minute Man National Historical Park. Richard is a landscape ecologist and Professor Emeritus at Harvard University.

On a sunny day in January, we took a two-hour walk through Battle Road and the park’s forests; we saw single stone walls used for livestock and double stone walls used for cultivation. Some walls were original, while others have been changed or rebuilt . . . Read more.

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

Stone Walls

Mark Your Calendars!

Patriots' Day 2023 is right around the corner. Click here to view the preliminary schedule.

Thank you to our generous Patriots' Day sponsors, Middlesex Bank and Freedom's Way National Heritage Area.

Sheep in the 1770s

Several properties that are now part of Minute Man National Historical Park kept small herds of sheep in the 1770s. Captain William and Louisa Smith in Lincoln had the largest herd with about twenty head. Down the street, near Hartwell Tavern in Lexington, Samuel and Mary Hartwell kept six sheep. The Buttrick family, near the North Bridge in Concord, had twelve sheep. . . Read more.

To learn more about sheep at Minute Man, please click on the button below.

1770s Sheep

First Snow of 2023

We experienced mild weather at the park in January, with only a few snowy days. Thank you to park visitor Cris Van Dyke for braving the elements and sharing this beautiful image of snow falling on near the North Bridge in early January.

Do you have a picture of the park that you'd like to share? Please send it to info@friendsofminuteman.org.

Beyond Battle Road

Items of interest outside the Park

National Parks of Boston: Boston, An Underground Railroad Hub

Learn about Boston’s central role in the Underground Railroad. Be inspired by the stories of the freedom seekers who escaped to Boston and the people and organizations here that assisted them. Click here to register for the Wednesday, Feb. 15th free online lecture at 6:00 p.m.

Discover Concord Magazine: Concord's Role in the Insane Ice Trade

Learn about how ice from Walden Pond traveled around the world thanks to the "Ice King" Frederick Tudor. Click here to read the online article.