Picture April 19, 1775, when British troops moved through this square, now part of the Concord Monument Square–Lexington Road Historic District. This open area is most famously the place of British activities on April 19, 1775 — the day of the battles of Lexington and Concord that began the American Revolutionary War. Before that fateful spring morning, this square was the focus of earlier civic life: Massachusetts Patriots met nearby in the First Parish Church and in Wright's Tavern.
As you stand where so much history converges, take a moment to notice how layers of time sit side by side — the colonial plan from 1635, the Revolutionary moment of 1775, and later memorials. At the northwestern edge of the square a stone marker honors Corporal Ralph P. Hosmer, Private Charles A. Hart, and Private George E. Adams of Concord’s company in the 6th Massachusetts Voluntary Infantry Regiment; the trio fought for the United States in the Spanish–American War. Notice the stone marker at the square's northwestern edge, honoring Hosmer, Hart, and Adams of the Spanish–American War.