Headquarters

In the early morning hours of April 19, 1775, the Lexington militia men met at Buckman's Tavern (yellow building), across the street from the Lexington Green, to await the British soldiers. Shortly before sunrise the militia learned that the British soldiers were approaching the town. The bell in the meeting house, which stood at the head of the Lexington Green, was sounded. William Diamond beat his drum and Captain Parker and his men left the comfort of Buckman Tavern to assemble into two lines across the foot of Lexington Green. Once the British arrived, a single fire was shot and the skirmish began the American Revolution. The central location of the tavern made it a popular stopping point for churchgoers during the noon break in Sunday services and for drovers who brought their herds to market. (Drovers were those who herded cattle or sheep.) The original front door of the tavern still displays a bullet hole from the 1775 Battle of Lexington.

William Munroe was the proprieter of the Munroe Tavern. When the Munroe family heard the news that the British were approaching, William joined Captain Parker and the other militia men at Buckman Tavern while his wife and children fled to hide from the soldiers. British Brigadier General Earl Percy and his 1,000 reinforcements occupied the Munroe Tavern (red building) as their headquarters and field hospital in the afternoon of April 19, 1775. The tavern dining room was converted into a medical center to treat the wounded. A bullet hole in the ceiling of the taproom from the short occupation by the British (they were in the tavern for one and one-half hours) is still visible today.