Concord, MA

Place: Concord, MA

Weather: Mostly sunny, 65/89F

Route: From Salem 29 miles WSW on I-95 S and MA-2A W.

Population: 17,669 (2010)

Significance: When Paul Revere yelled "The British are coming!" - he meant they were coming here.  There were arms for the Patriot militia stored in Concord. The militia defended the town against the British and forced them to retreat to Boston.   The first shots of the Revolutionary War ("The shot hear round the world") occurred a short distance away in Lexington and the remembrance of that day is the reason for the holiday "Patriot's Day" in Massachusetts, the day the Boston Marathon is held each year.

The literary figures who lived in Concord in the mid-19th century were some of the most important of their time - they included Ralph Waldo Emerson, Louisa May Alcott, Henry David Thoreau, and Nathaniel Hawthorne. Thoreau's Walden pond is just a short hike outside of town.  They were part of the "Transcendentalist movement" - a movement that emphasized the ability of individuals to generate insights that are more true than any dogma of organizations or religions.  It was also influenced by Hinduism - which was rare for philosophical movements in America or Europe to incorporate thoughts from outside the Judeo-Christian world.

Places to visit: Minute Man National Historical Park, Louisa May Alcott's Orchard House, Walden Pond State Reservation, Sleepy Hollow Cemetery, The Wayside.

Images:

Old North Bridge - where the Patriots fought off the British (from npca.org)

Walden Pond (from travelandleisure.com)