New Editions to Buckman Tavern!

Hey history nerds! What a comparison. This is Buckman Tavern, the gathering place of the Lexington Militia in 1775. The top picture is from the 1920s, and the bottom is from 2013! Who knew a 100 years could look so different, but so similar! You can learn more about it here: https://lostnewengland.com/2013/11/buckman-tavern-lexington/.

I went to Buckman Tavern today with a couple of friends and learned that there were some new additions! The Lexington Historical Society added a bunch of new things through out the house, so let’s go check it out!

To start, they completely redid the first room you go to in. It has this thing where you place your hand over it and it gives you a testimonial from three different perspectives. Anna Harrington, Prince Estabrook, and John Parker. They have William Diamond’s drum on display. William Diamond was the Drummer Boy for the Lexington Militia and his drum was painted for the centennial, so it’s very cool to look at! You can learn more about it here: Who Has William Diamond’s Drum? Right next to it, is a light up silhouette of a minuteman. 

Throughout the out there are plaques with information about the room. Like did you know that one of the chairs in the small parlor was a chair that Ulysses S. Grant sat in one of them to watch the centennial of the Battle of Lexington? I didn’t before today! They also highlight the experiences of women and people of color in Lexington of the time period throughout the tavern. I thought that was a really cool way to include these different view points of the Revolution.

Another thing I absolutely loved were in the Parlor and Tap Room. They had an interactive section with magnets. In the Parlor they asked about violence and in the Tap Room they asked about how far you’d go to support a candidate, one of them even being running yourself! I thought that was really cool and made the history come alive. It also made for great conversations with two of my friends who I brought along.

Overall today I had a ton of fun in Buckman Tavern, and was super excited to see the new addition of this tavern. I learned a ton, and the tavern made conversation with my friends, which I enjoyed taking part in. You definitely should plan your trip there soon, even if you’ve been!