First Memorial Erected on Lexington Green

In 1799, the town of Lexington erected a memorial stone on the Green to honor the eight men killed on April 19, 1775. This was among the earliest Revolutionary War memorials in America. The monument, which listed the names of the fallen, established Lexington Green as a site of national memory. The act of memorializing—choosing to remember, and choosing how to remember—reflected the community's determination that the sacrifice of their neighbors would not be forgotten. The original stone was later replaced by a more elaborate monument, but the tradition of public commemoration on Lexington Green continues to this day, most notably on Patriots' Day each April.