Saturday, August 21, 2021

Lexington

From Wikipedia: Lexington is a suburban town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is 11 miles (17 km) from Downtown Boston. Settled in 1641 as a farming community, it is well known as the site of the first shots of the American Revolutionary War, in the Battle of Lexington on April 19, 1775. It is home to Minute Man National Historical Park. The area that is now Lexington was first settled circa 1642 as part of Cambridge, Massachusetts. As the population increased, Lexington was incorporated as a separate parish, called Cambridge Farms, in 1691. On April 19, 1775, what many regard as the first battle of the American Revolutionary War was the Battle at Lexington. On the night of April 18, the British Army had sent out 800 grenadiers and light infantry soldiers on foot from Boston, with the intention of destroying Colonial gunpowder and cannons that were being stored in Concord, as well as capturing two leaders of the Sons of Liberty, John Hancock and Samuel Adams, who were staying in Lexington. Hancock and Adams were warned of the danger by two alarm riders, Paul Revere and William Dawes, who alerted the countryside of the British movements. When the British soldiers arrived on the Lexington Common not long after sunrise, they faced 77 men of the Lexington militia, commanded by Captain John Parker. Someone-still unknown to this day—fired a shot, provoking an exchange of musket fire between the two sides.




Saturday, August 7, 2021

Shelburne

From Wikipedia and the Town of Shelburne website: Shelburne is a town in Franklin County, Massachusetts, United States.  It is part of the Springfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area. Shelburne was first settled in 1756 as part of Deerfield, Massachusetts, known then as "Deerfield Northwest". It was initially organized as the district of Shelburne in 1768, named in honor of William Petty, 2nd Earl of Shelburne, an Irish-born British politician, who later served as Prime Minister during the American Revolutionary War. Shelburne was officially incorporated as a town in 1775. Its character has always been two-sided; the main body of town has farmland among the low hills, while the area around Shelburne Falls has mostly been a milling community. The early history of Shelburne surrounds the area of Shelburne Falls, then known as Salmon Falls. The Falls were considered an important native fishing site and prior to colonial settlement was also the site of extensive colonial fishing. Permanent settlement of Shelburne began in the vicinity of Shelburne Falls, c 1760, by five families.