The forty-five communities within the Freedom’s Way National Heritage Area were at the epicenter of the earliest debates regarding independence and the first battles of the American Revolution. Those events live on in the region’s rich tapestry of monuments, memorials, and markers commemorating those events.

Our top favorites are presented here as a great ‘road trip’ that you can take to dive into the exciting history of our area. Want to discover more? Visit Freedom’s Way National Heritage Area’s collection of more than 150 monuments, memorials, and markers at HowWeRemember.org - or scan the QR Code at the end of the article to download the complimentary app and start exploring!

Along the Battle Road

Arlington Revolutionary War Monument

| Courtesy of Freedom’s Way

Arlington, MA 
Arlington Revolutionary War Monument 

The nineteen-foot-tall granite obelisk commemorates those killed in Arlington, then known as Menotomy, during the bloodiest engagement of April 19, 1775. After the Battle of Menotomy, Jason Russell and eleven other colonists were interred in a mass grave. In 1848, their remains were reburied in a stone vault beneath the Revolutionary War Monument.

The inscription reads:

Erected by the Inhabitants of West Cambridge, A.D. 1848, over the common grave of Jason Russell, Jason Winship, Jabez Wyman, and nine others, who were slain in this town by the British Troops on their retreat from the Battles of Lexington and Concord, April 19th, 1775. Being among the first to lay down their lives in the struggle for American Independence.

Also Visit: The Monument to Fallen Crown Soliders, Old Men of Menotomy Marker, Samuel Whittemore Marker, Women of Menotomy Memorial, and the Jason Russell House. 

Concord, MA
The Minute Man 

Standing near the historic North Bridge and the site where the first colonial militiamen fell in Concord on April 19, 1775, The Minute Man embodies the spirit of the American Revolution. This iconic statue captures a farmer setting aside his plow to take up arms, symbolizing the courage and duty required to defend liberty and freedom.

Sculpted by Concord native Daniel Chester French, The Minute Man marked his first major commission. French later achieved national acclaim for works like the seated Lincoln statue at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C.

Also visit: 1836 Battle Monument, Grave of British Soldiers, Concord Fight Plaque, Minute Man National Historical Park Visitor Center, and The Robbins House. 

Lexington, MA 
Lexington Revolutionary War Monument 

Situated on Lexington’s historic Battle Green, the Revolutionary War Monument, dedicated on July 4, 1799, holds the distinction of being the oldest war memorial in the United States. The granite obelisk marks the approximate area where the Lexington militia bravely drew their line to face British Regulars on April 19, 1775. 

Decades later, on April 20, 1835, seven of the eight men who died on Lexington Green were exhumed from Lexington’s Old Burying Ground and reinterred beneath the monument. The solemn ceremony, complete with full military honors, forever enshrined their sacrifice in the heart of American history.

Also visit: Battle Line Boulder, The Lexington Minuteman statue, Site of the Old Belfry, Lexington Minuteman Marker, Prince Estabrook Memorial, Meetinghouses Marker, Buckman Tavern, and the Hancock-Clarke House. 

Lincoln, MA 
Paul Revere Capture Monument

In the early hours of April 19, 1775, Paul Revere, William Dawes, and Dr. Samuel Prescott rode through the night to warn the people of the approaching British soldiers. They were part of a network established by the Provincial Congress to alert the citizenry and rally the minutemen and militias.  

This monument marks the dramatic endpoint of Paul Revere’s famous midnight ride. It was here that Revere, Dawes, and Prescott encountered a British patrol set on halting any riders from Boston. Revere was captured, but Dawes and Prescott managed to escape. It was Prescott who ultimately carried the warning to Concord.

Further Afield

Isaac Davis Monument

| Courtesy of Acton Historical Society

Acton, MA
Isaac Davis Monument 

Standing on Acton’s town common, a seventy-five-foot granite obelisk commemorates Revolutionary War hero Captain Isaac Davis, commanding officer of the Acton minuteman company and the first officer killed at the North Bridge. It also honors two of Davis’ fellow militia men: Abner Hosmer, also killed at the North Bridge, and James Hayward, mortally wounded in Lexington during the British retreat.

The cornerstone was laid on August 20, 1851, followed by a formal dedication ceremony on October 29, 1851. Davis, Hosmer, and Hayward were re-interred there in 1851 from their original resting places in Acton’s Woodlawn Cemetery.

Also visit: Acton Town Hall (historic Isaac Davis Plow) and Acton Public Library (Revolutionary War Artifact Exhibit including James Hayward Powderhorn).

African Reservation Monument

| Courtesy of Freedom’s Way

Bedford, MA
African Reservation Monument 

Located in Bedford’s historic Old Burying Ground lies the African Reservation Monument, a tribute to three enslaved men—Cambridge Moore, Caesar Prescott, and Caesar Jones—who courageously fought for America’s independence during the Revolutionary War. Erected in 1896, this remarkable monument stands as one of the nation’s earliest memorials to recognize African Americans by name for their service in the American Revolution.

Also Visit: Job Lane Memorial Marker, American Revolution Soldiers Marker, and Bedford Town Common.

Hollis, NH 
The Nevens Stone 

On April 19, 1775, three brothers were hard at work digging stone for a wall on their farm in Hollis, NH—42 miles from Concord and Lexington. When the alarm sounded that British troops were advancing on Concord, the brothers dropped their tools, leaving the stone where it lay, and joined their fellow minutemen on the Hollis common to march to the aid of their neighbors.  

For seventy years, the stone remained where the brothers had abandoned it, a silent symbol of their readiness and sacrifice. Eventually relocated to the town common, it became a historic landmark, believed to be the first monument to commemorate by name all those who responded to the call on that fateful day, April 19, 1775.  

Also visit: The Powers Stone and the Soldiers’ Monument. 

Medford, MA 
Sarah Bradlee Fulton Memorial 

Sarah Bradlee Fulton, known as the “mother” of the Boston Tea Party, is credited with the idea of disguising the men who participated in the tea party in Native American-style clothing and disposing of their disguises afterward. Her bravery extended to the Battle of Bunker Hill, where she organized women in nursing wounded soldiers. In 1776, she reportedly crossed enemy lines alone to deliver a message to General George Washington, who later visited her home. Fulton was buried in Medford’s Salem Street Burying Ground, and in 1900, a chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution was founded in her name. The chapter later erected a memorial in her memory.

Also Visit: New Hampshire Soldiers Bunker Hill Memorial.   

Prudence Wright Memorial Stone

| Courtesy of Freedom’s Way

Pepperell, MA 
Prudence Wright Memorial Stone 

The Prudence Wright Memorial Stone marks the site where Wright and her ‘guard’ of fellow women captured a Tory spy. According to legend, Prudence Wright was visiting her mother in Hollis, NH, when she overheard Benjamin Whiting and Samuel Cummings planning to send Leonard Whiting with a message to the British in Boston, revealing the location of gunpowder kept by colonial forces.

Wright gathered thirty to forty local women to foil the loyalists’ plan. Wearing their husbands’ clothing and, according to Butler’s History of the Town of Groton, “armed with muskets, pitchforks and other such weapons as they could find,” the women captured Whiting, confiscated the documents he was carrying, and surrendered him to Groton’s Committee of Observation.

Also Visit: Pepperell Covered Bridge.

Bunker Hill Memorial Bench

This striking granite bench, also known as the Walcott Memorial, was a gift from Edith Prescott Walcott, the great-great-granddaughter of Colonel William Prescott. A Pepperell native, Prescott famously commanded American forces at the Battle of Bunker Hill.  

An inscription on the back of the bench reads: “To the men of Pepperell who fought at Bunker Hill, 17 June 1775. They took part in an action with British Regulars which proved the fighting qualities of the provincial militia and foretold that England could not hold Her American colonies by force.” The bench was dedicated on November 1, 1899.  

Also Visit: Walton Cemetery (William Prescott’s Burial Site). 

Shirley, MA 
American Revolution Memorial and April 19th Muster Plaque

Dedicated on April 19, 1900, Shirley’s American Revolution Memorial and April 19th Muster Plaque pay tribute to the remarkable patriotism of 80 local men who answered the call during the American Revolution. According to History of the Town of Shirley, the town’s response was so fervent that only seven men—too old or ill to serve—remained behind.  

Set at the entrance to the Shirley Center Cemetery and on the portico of the historic Shirley Meeting House, these memorials stand as timeless sentinels, framing the iconic Town Common and preserving the spirit of a community united in the fight for freedom.  

Sudbury Revolutionary War Monument

| Courtesy of Freedom’s Way

Sudbury, MA
Sudbury Revolutionary War Monument 

Located in the heart of the Sudbury Center Historic District, this striking twenty-foot monument featuring a musket bearing soldier was created through the largesse of local resident Joanne Gleason whose grandfather, Captain Timothy Adams, served in the defense of Bunker Hill. The monument, designed by well-known architect A.F. Haynes, was dedicated in 1896, and overlooks the Revolutionary Cemetery. 

Also Visit: Common Marker and Sudbury History Center.

Revolutionary War Memorial Drum

| Courtesy of Westford Historical Society

Westford, MA 
Revolutionary War Memorial Drum 

Local artist and Westford firefighter David P. Christiana crafted this striking bronze Revolutionary War battle drum to honor the 280 men from Westford, MA, who served in the Revolutionary War. Among them is Colonel John Robinson, a key figure at the North Bridge on April 19, 1775, and a trusted officer under George Washington during the Siege of Boston.

Also Visit: Colonel John Robinson Memorial, Westford War Memorial, and Westford Museum & Historical Society. 

Colonel Loammi Baldwin Monument

| Public domain. Commons.wikimedia.org

Woburn, MA
Colonel Loammi Baldwin Monument

Created by Herbert Adams in 1917 and dedicated on April 19, 1920, the statue commemorates Baldwin’s many achievements, including commanding the Woburn Militia in Concord on April 19, 1775, where he fought at Elm Brook Hill (formerly called the Bloody Angle). Baldwin also served in the 26th Continental Regiment, where he rose to the rank of colonel. Bronze plaques on the base provide a biography of Colonel Baldwin.

An engineer and inventor, Baldwin oversaw development of the Middlesex Canal and propagated the Baldwin apple, at one time the most popular apple in the world. 

Also Visit: Baldwin Landing Plaque and Centurial Time Capsule (both in Kiwanis Park), Liberty Tree Memorial, commemorative plaque honoring Asahel Porter and Daniel Thompson, and the Benjamin Thompson Birthplace.

For more information on these historic sites, visit FreedomsWay.org.  

This project was made possible with support from the Massachusetts Society of the Cincinnati and the National Park Service and is funded, in part, by the Massachusetts Office of Travel & Tourism.

1    American Revolution Memorial and April 19th Muster Plaque

2    Bunker Hill Memorial Bench

3    Prudence Wright Memorial Stone

4    The Nevens Stone

5    Revolutionary War Memorial Drum 

6    Isaac Davis Monument

7    Sudbury Revolutionary War Monument

8    The Minute Man in Concord, MA

9    African Reservation Monument

10    Paul Revere Capture Monument

11    Lexington Revolutionary War Monument

12    Colonel Loammi Baldwin Monument

13    Arlington Revolutionary War Monument

14    Sarah Bradlee Fulton Memorial

Create Your Own Monumental Road Trip at FreedomsWay.org/area-map

Courtesy of Freedom’s Way

One of sixty-two National Heritage Areas in the United States, Freedom’s Way works in partnership with the National Park Service to preserve and promote a unique regional identity revealed in the natural, cultural, and historical sites and stories of forty-five communities in Massachusetts and New Hampshire. Discover all the Freedom’s Way National Heritage Area has to offer at FreedomsWay.org.

Funded, in part, by the Massachusetts Office of Travel & Tourism

Produced in partnership with Freedom’s Way National Heritage Area