Revolutionary history comes to life in the rolling hills of MetroWest Boston
In the MetroWest region, the suburbs of Boston give way to rolling countryside sprinkled with towns and buildings that date from Colonial times and include the Federal, Georgian, and Victorian styles. In recent years this region has been defined by the proliferation of technology industries that occupy offices along Routes 128 and 495. This region includes the towns of Concord and Lexington, where a long-simmering political feud between the British government and the American colonists came to a climax on April 19, 1775, as British soldiers clashed with Colonial militiamen at Lexington, on North Bridge in Concord, and along the road to Boston. The fighting that began that day – later to be memorialized as the “shot heard ’round the world” – soon grew into a war for independence that lasted more than eight years. These places are preserved at the Minute Man National Historical Park in Concord, where visitors may explore the battlefield and learn about these historic events. On Patriot’s Day in April, a Massachusetts state holiday, re-enactment groups present portrayals of the battles.
