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Minute Man National Historical Park
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11 reviews for Minute Man National Historical Park
This is my second visit to the Minute Man NHP and it was just as good this time. This year is the 50th anniversary of the park's dedication. I loved the visitor's center. The setting getting to the house was awesome. The parking lot was across the street and it was a nice 1/4 mile walk across the bridge, to the monument and up to the visitor's center. The gardens and grounds are beautifully maintained and often uncrowded.
The park contains many of the original buildings from the days beginning the Revolutionary War. The bridge is a recontruction, but built similar to how it was. The visitor's center contains a plank from the original North bridge.
One thing I discovered this time that I did not on my earlier visit was the Wayside, which is a home where Louisa May Alcott and Nathaniel Hawthorne used to live. There is a path in the side yard leading to a woods and up a small hill where a plaque in the rock states Hawthorne used to walk for inspiration. Definitely spend some time and check out this piece of American history.
Disclaimer: I work for the National Park Service (at another Massachusetts site); not exactly an unbiased review :-)
Growing up in California, we learned about the Revolution from the pages of a book. Since moving to the Commonwealth two years ago, we've been to numerous sites in Minuteman in all four seasons. A wonderful place, dripping in local and national history. The multi-media program at the visitor center put the events of April in perspective. Echoing the words of Yelper Chris P...WATCH THE FILM! The film, coupled with going to the Old North Bridge, and the various sites along Battle Road, brought the story to life in a way that no text book ever could. It never ceases to amaze me that such a bucolic and rural landscape is so close to Boston!
Now that I have a bicycle, I look forward to seeing the park from the perspective of the Minuteman trail.
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whether you're walking, biking or driving from one lot to another over the 6 mile stretch, there is plenty to see. I chose to drive since it's unpredictable day of thunder in the afternoon.
By pure coincidence, I stumbled across a musket demonstration at Harwell Tavern. The fellows wore Colonial attire while they explained and demonstrated. I must say - that was pretty cool!
Not crowded and the locals biking are friendly. Most importantly, parking is free at this park!
There is a disconnect from the main stretch to the North Bridge. It started to pour 20 mins into my visit at this section so I didn't get to explore the Old Manse.
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Kudos to the staff for being deeply well-informed as well as putting together an engaging and intense film in the auditorium. If you go - WATCH THE FILM. It will fill in a lot of blanks for you in the history department.
Otherwise a clean, well-marked park with parking areas at each major attraction - or, you can bring your own mode of transportation and go place to place throughout the narrow, five-mile long park. Well worth a visit!
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This was the first place we came when we visited Boston a few weekends ago. I'm glad we started here before doing the Freedom Trail so I could brush up on my history. Reading about it in a textbook... blah. Going to a place where the events actually occurred a few hundred years ago... much better.
The visitor's center is the right place to start. Check out the theater that has about a 20 minute show. It's a good refresher of the events that led to the American Revolution. And they have some pretty cool effects for the show too - one being a map that lights up to pinpoint locations as they're being narrated.
When we left here, we went to the Paul Revere capture site. Next, was Concord, home to the North Bridge and the "shot heard 'round the world."
Nice monuments and statues throughout the park. And beautiful foliage - great time of the year to go!
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I visited Columbus Day weekend with family from the Midwest, and although crowded, the park was well worth the visit. We started at the Visitor Center to orient ourselves with a quick history refresher. The center showed a film, but we did not watch so I cannot review.
Our group spent most of the time strolling the North Bridge area, then worked our way down the park, seeing the Old Manse, stopping at the Wayside to see Orchard House, and walking parts of Battle Road around Hartwell Tavern (my personal favorite for the great foliage and historians demonstrating muskets). Touring Orchard House was a bit expensive for our group, but the home had a steady stream of tour-takers.
Going back, I would pack a lunch and bike the entire five-mile Battle Road section of the park. I really enjoyed the area, and am surprised it took me three years to visit. It's a wonderful park to take out-of-town guests looking for the rich history of the region outside Boston proper.
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About half an hour out of Boston, and so worth the visit. The park cuts through Lexington, Bedford, Lincoln, and continues most of the way to Concord, following the original retreat route of the British forces on April 19, 1775. There's a really nice walking trail that connects the old historical houses along the way, and I was very impressed at how historically accurate and detailed the restorations of the houses/taverns were. We went in Hartwell Tavern, and it was laid out just as if people were still living and working there.
I haven't seen the intro film offered by the park for visitors, so I can't comment on it, but my co-workers who have gone tell me that it is an excellent overview. I will have to say that even though the park is a rather narrow stretch of land (it is, after all, located along route 2A), there is plenty of free parking in different grassy lots along the road, and the trail is located away from the route enough so that you can walk in peace and not have to listen to traffic.
I went with some friends to the park for the reenactments of the Battle of Concord/British retreat on Patriots' Day weekend, and I definitely recommend them if you haven't been to see them.
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PROS:
Foliage
Wide trail for biking and walking
Peeking in the windows of original and replica houses
CONS:
Dogs must be on a leash at all times
No trash cans
TICKS!!!!!!! (One on me when I got home and 3 on my dog during the walk, thanks Frontline!)
Nice scenic spot that was not crowded at all when we went, however it was loaded with ticks so beware!
We just spent Sunday escorting an Austin Texas Native around Concord.
I take all this history stuff for granted. Its been the backdrop of my life, after all. It was splendid to see it all through the eyes of someone for whom it was all new and fascinating.
Add to it, our friend is a floral designer, and she got to (for the first time) see lily of the valleys growing. Crabapple, Dogwoods, and cherries blooming...Fiddleheads. I had a ball.
The big brick museum at North Bridge is fun to wander around. I'd love to get my hands on the gardens there....
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Come to this beautiful park, walk the grounds and get a grasp of what all those history books you were forced to read as a kid were trying to tell you. I can't think of a better way to understand the battle of the Revolution than being here, seeing the homes which sent their young men to fight, hearing rangers tell of how the rebellion began, and seeing the terrain where the fighting occurred. My British husband was dead-impressed, especially when the rangers told about how British weren't defeated as easily as we have come to believe. A gorgeous place to bike ride, walk, or get a history lesson... and be sure to watch the re-enactment titled 'Who were the Minute Men?'
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History, Smistory this place rocks even if the only thought you have when someone says Minuteman is your jerk of an ex-boyfriend. Such a great place to walk and see New England in it's finniest splendor. Over the years the National Park has really made this place a worth visiting. My suggestion is grab lunch (sandwiches and chips, do not forget fruit) and stuff it all in a bag and go here one nice summer evening after work and listen to crickets. Just bring some Flonaze as the pollen is horrible this year.