Hartwell Tavern (also known as the Ephraim Hartwell House) is a historic American Revolutionary War site associated with the revolution's first battle, the 1775 battles of Lexington and Concord. It is located on North County Road, just off Battle Road (formerly the Bay Road) in Lincoln, Massachusetts, and operated as a historic house museum by the National Park Service as part of the Minute Man National Historical Park. It is staffed from Memorial Day weekend to October by park rangers dressed in colonial attire who offer programs daily.
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The building, whose main façade faces south, was originally constructed as a home for Ephraim Hartwell (1707–1793) and his newlywed wife, Elizabeth (1714–1808), in 1733. It was given to them by Ephraim's father, Samuel (1666–1744), who lived with his fourth wife, Experience, at what became known as the Samuel Hartwell House, located about 700 feet east along North County Road and which pre-dates the Hartwell Tavern by about forty years.
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BATTLEFIELD
April 19, 1775
The battles of Lexington and Concord took form before dawn on April 19, 1775. Soldiers passed by the tavern on their way to Concord, and again on their way back to Boston. Three of the Hartwells' children — Samuel, John and Isaac — were in the Lincoln minutemen that fought at Old North Bridge and on the battle road. All three later served in the Revolutionary War.
Paul Revere and William Dawes were detained by a British Army patrol nearby during the "Midnight Ride" to Concord of April 18. Samuel Prescott, who was also riding with them, escaped by jumping his horse over a wall and into the woods. Prescott emerged at the Hartwell Tavern, awakened Ephraim and informed him of the pending arrival of the British soldiers. Ephraim sent his black slave, Violet, down the road to alert his son and his family. Mary then relayed the message to Captain William Smith, commanding officer of the Lincoln minutemen, who lived a little to the west and whose home still stands along Battle Road. The minutemen received the notice in time, and arrived at Old North Bridge before their enemy.
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