Bedford

Bedford Minuteman Statue

Monument · The Common, Bedford, MA 01730

A bronze statue of a Minuteman on Bedford's town common, commemorating the men who responded to the April 19 alarm. The figure carries a musket and wears civilian clothing with militia equipment — the standard appearance of New England militiamen in 1775. Bedford's contribution to the North Bridge fight was part of the coordinated response of a dozen towns that had drilled together in the months before Lexington.

Bedford Museum and Cultural Center

Museum · 27 Mudge Way, Bedford, MA 01730

The museum holds the Bedford Flag, generally considered the oldest surviving flag associated with an American military unit. The flag — crimson silk with a painted arm holding a sword, Latin motto, and the date 1737 — was carried by the Bedford militia company and is traditionally said to have been borne on April 19, 1775. The museum's Revolutionary War collection contextualizes Bedford's role in the opening of the war.

Bedford Town Common

Landmark · The Common, Bedford, MA 01730

The town common where Bedford's Minuteman company assembled in the pre-dawn hours of April 19, 1775. A marker on the common commemorates the muster and the march to Concord. The common retains its 18th-century character as the civic center of the town. Each April 19, the town holds a Patriots' Day ceremony here.

Captain John Wilson Homestead Area

Landmark · Bedford, MA 01730

The area near the homestead of Captain John Wilson, who led Bedford's Minuteman company on April 19, 1775. Wilson marched his men to Concord in time for the North Bridge engagement. The homestead site marks the network of farms and families that constituted Bedford's military community in 1775.

Bedford Town Hall

Government · 10 Mudge Way, Bedford, MA 01730

The current town hall stands near the site of the original meeting house where Bedford's townspeople debated colonial policy in the early 1770s and where the Minuteman company was officially organized under the Massachusetts Provincial Congress's call for armed preparation. Town meetings were the constitutional basis for colonial resistance, and Bedford's records from 1774–1775 document the town's deliberate preparation for war.