Colonel James Barrett House and Farm Plaque

Colonel James Barrett’s farm may have been the impetus for the British march on Concord in 1775. British troops reportedly had caught wind of Patriot artillery and ammunition being stored at the farm, and set out on April 18-19th to search for and seize it. Thanks to the alarm of Dr. Samuel Prescott, most of the arms were hidden or dispersed by the time the British arrived. However, the march did set off fighting at the nearby North Bridge, which evolved into the first battles of the Revolutionary War.

The inscription on this bronze plaque, restored in 2012 by the Old Concord Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution, reads:

HOUSE AND FARM OF
COLONEL JAMES BARRETT,
COMMANDING OFFICER
OF THE MIDDLESEX MILITIA

ON THE MORNING OF APRIL 19, 1775, THE BRITISH MARCH
FROM BOSTON WHICH RESULTED IN THE OUTBREAK OF THE
REVOLUTIONARY WAR ENDED HERE WITH A SEARCH FOR MILITARY
STORES. GUN CARRIAGES FOUND BY THE LIGHT INFANTRY WERE
BURNED IN FRONT OF THE HOUSE. OTHER WEAPONS AND SUPPLIES
WERE SUCCESSFULLY CONCEALED IN THE ATTIC OF THE HOUSE,
IN FURROWS PLOWED NEAR THE FARMYARD AND IN SPRUCE
HOLLOW BEHIND THE HOUSE.

ERECTED BY OLD CONCORD CHAPTER
DAUGHTERS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION
APRIL 19, 1961