The One Small Town In Massachusetts With More Historic Places Than Any Other
By Melissa Mahoney|Published September 01, 2022
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Melissa Mahoney
Author
I'm an east coast girl living in a west coast world. I grew up in New England before moving to SoCal for several years. I then lived in NYC or a year before moving to AZ in 2009. I worked in the entertainment industry for many years of my adult life and have a deep love for photography, writing, and traveling around the U.S. as well as to far-flung locations around the world. Travel is my life and writing about it is a dream!
It seems as though everywhere you go in Massachusetts, you’re tripping over a historic site. And while that’s true in most towns around the state, Concord seems to take the cake when it comes to historic locales. As the most historic small town in Massachusetts, Concord is the place to get a glimpse into the past.
The town of Concord is located approximately 20 miles west of Boston. While Boston itself has an incredible amount of historical sites, it was Concord that also played a pivotal role in American history.
Concord was first settled nearly 400 years ago in 1643. In 1775, it was at the North Bridge in town where the start of the first battle of the American Revolutionary War occurred.
You can visit Minute Man National Park to see the battlefields and other structures that have been around since 1775.
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The Old Manse is one of the best-known historical homes in Concord. Set on nine acres along the Concord River, this house once belonged to the patriot minister, William Emerson.
In addition to Ralph Waldo Emerson, the town of Concord was also home to Nathaniel Hawthorne, Louisa May Alcott, and Henry David Thoreau. It was also here in town that the Transcendentalist movement first started.
(Pictured here is the Orchard House where Louisa May Alcott once lived.)
Author's Ridge at Sleepy Hollow Cemetery is where you can view there grave sites of these authors that played such important roles in American history.
And while a natural area, Walden Pond is still a historic site all on its own. Henry David Thoreau was so inspired by this pond that he wrote an essay called "Walden" which, in turn, has inspired millions of people since the mid-1800s.
Not only did Walden Pond inspire Thoreau but many other famous authors that were associated with the Transcendentalist movement.
These are just a few of the historical sites located in Concord. To learn more about Concord and to plan your visit, head to the Visit Concord website. Do you have another favorite historic small town in Massachusetts? If so, in the comments, let us know where!
