MA250

Abigail Adams Birthplace Open Hours
2025-04-27 13:00 - 15:00 (America/New_York) | Abigail Adams Birthplace, Norton Street 180, Weymouth, Massachusetts, 02191, United States
Open hours at the Abigail Adams Birthplace begin for the season on Sunday, April and from 1 – 3 p.m.
Built in 1685, the Abigail Smith Adams (1744-1818) Birthplace was home to this exceptional woman for the first twenty years of her life. It has survived two relocations and now stands as a monument to her extraordinary life.
Please note: Visits are by guided tour only. Tours begin on the half hour, with the last tour starting at 2:30 p.m.
Cost: $10 adults/$5 children and members are free!

Trolley Tour: Revolutionary Line
2025-04-27 09:00 - 16:30, 2025-04-26 09:00 - 16:30, 2025-04-25 09:00 - 16:30 | Revolutionary Line Stop, Liberty Avenue 24, Somerville, MA, 02144, United States
Join us for a guided tour of little-known local Revolutionary sites in and around Somerville! Visit two historic towers and see the entire Boston basin as General Washington did. You’ll have the chance to connect with Redcoats, generals, prisoners, and former forts of our town, learning their stories from local experts.
Tours run April 25-27 at 9am, 11am, 1pm, and 3pm! Register today.
Discounts available for members, seniors, students, and children!

Concord Museum: The 250th Midnight Ride Celebration
2025-04-26 19:00 - 22:00 | Concord Museum, 53 Cambridge Turnpike, Concord, MA, 01742, United States
Join us for a special event marking the 250th anniversary of the American Revolution at the 250th Midnight Ride Celebration. Enjoy an unforgettable night of festive food, entertainment, and dancing as we mark this historic milestone in style and honor Churchill and Janet Franklin. Proceeds from the event will benefit the Museum’s educational programs, helping us continue to inspire and engage future generations through the power of history.
We look forward to celebrating with you!

Revolutionary Plymouth 250: “Liberty and Tea at the Spooner House”
2025-04-26 14:00 - 16:00 | Spooner House Museum, North Street 27, Plymouth, Massachusetts, 02360, United States
Step back in time to sample the same varieties of imported teas that the Sons of Liberty defiantly tossed into Boston Harbor, alongside an herbal “Liberty tea” favored by Patriots in protest. Explore a special exhibition featuring rarely displayed Revolutionary-era artifacts, and speak to costumed interpreters about the debates that divided Plymouth as residents grappled with the American boycott of British goods.

April 26: Ideas, Invention, and Imagination: A Guided Tour of Cambridgeport
2025-04-26 14:00 - 15:30 | 899 Main Street, Cambridge, Main Street 899, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 02139, United States
Join authors Karen Weintraub and Michael Kuchta for a series of free walking tours exploring Cambridge’s legacy of innovation, adaptation, and revolutionary ideas. Based on their book Born in Cambridge: 400 Years of Ideas and Innovators, these tours will uncover the people, places, and events that have shaped the city’s unique role in history. Explore the “secret sauce” that has made Cambridge the home of so many creative people and new ideas.
On April 26th, 2025, Weintraub and Kuchta will lead a 90 minute walking tour of the Cambridgeport neighborhood. The tour will start and end outside 899 Main Street (Toscanini’s Central Square) and discuss Cambridge’s candy industry, pioneering author Margaret Fuller, the Fig Newton, Alvan Clark’s telescopes, public radio personalities Tom and Ray Magliozzi, the early days of Zipcar, and other Cambridgeport pioneers.
This tour is supported by the City of Cambridge and MA 250.

Born in Cambridge Tours - Cambridgeport
2025-04-26 14:00 - 15:30 | Cambridgeport – location TBD, Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States
In their recent book, Born in Cambridge: 400 Years of Ideas and Innovators, authors Karen Weintraub and Michael Kuchta argue that “[t]he story of Cambridge reflects the story of America….Major events and trends that affected the nation left fingerprints here, too.” But although the same outside forces have acted on Cambridge as on the rest of the country, the way the city and its residents have reacted to those forces has made for a unique and compelling story of invention, reinvention, and adaptation spanning four centuries. The city’s rich and storied history of innovation in a wide variety of realms has made Cambridge “revolutionary” both before and after the War for Independence, and provides historical perspective on how we are continuing to live into our Revolutionary ideals.
In this series of neighborhood tours, Weintraub and Kuchta will explore some of the people, places, and events featured in their book and discuss how this small city became a thriving center for creativity in many sectors. What is Cambridge’s “secret sauce”—that special combination of factors that has allowed a relatively small city to play such a prominent role in the development of new ideas? Weintraub and Kuchta cited Cambridge’s rich history as a center of higher learning, the density and diversity of its population, a commitment to the common good, a diversified economic base, and visionary leadership, as some of the key factors that have allowed Cambridge to continually reinvent itself, successfully adapt to change, and create contributions that have enriched the wider world.
Rain date: April 27

Walking Tour: Explore Revolutionary Hingham
2025-04-26 14:00 - 15:00, 2025-04-26 13:00 - 14:00, 2025-04-26 11:00 - 12:00 | Hingham Heritage Museum, Main Street 34, Hingham, MA, 02043, United States
Huzzah! Celebrate the 250th anniversary of the “shot heard ’round the world” with a revolutionary tour. In this 55-minute guided walk, you’ll see surviving homes from the 1700s and discover how ordinary Hinghamites survived the tumultuous years before, during, and after the American Revolution. This tour is perfect for history lovers of all ages!

Sacred Rebellion: Congregationalists in Revolutionary Massachusetts
2025-04-26 11:00 - 16:00, 2025-04-25 11:00 - 16:00 | Congregational Library & Archives, Beacon Street 14, Boston, Massachusetts, 02108, United States
The Congregational Library & Archives presents a new in-person exhibition, “Sacred Rebellion: Congregationalists in Revolutionary Massachusetts.” The exhibition highlights the stories of Massachusetts Congregationalists drawn from the CLA’s important collections.
By the time the war began, many Congregationalists had embraced a theological justification for war and revolution. They believed that God favored them and that their cause was a morally justified, sacred rebellion. Through sermons, books, poems, songs, and letters, Congregationalists shared their stories, reflected on their moral obligations to each other, and debated questions of liberty and loyalty. But consensus was elusive, and implementation proved difficult and unsatisfactory to many, especially those on the margins.
These discussions shaped the legacy of Congregationalism and the way the Revolutionary War is remembered today, 250 years later.

Weaving Threads of Lace History
2025-04-26 10:30 - 16:00 | Ipswich Museum, 54 South Main Street, Ipswich, MA, 01938, United States
Did you know that the only American town that made bobbin lace at scale in our early republic was Ipswich Massachusetts? Alexander Hamilton’s papers record that over 40,000 yards of lace were made in one single year. Lace was an important political, economic, and fashion item in the 18th century. Hannah Adams the historian said about lace: “During the American revolutionary war, I learned to weave bobbin lace, which was then saleable, and much more profitable to me than spinning, sewing or knitting, which had previously been my employment.”
Join us at the Ipswich Museum to learn about how bobbin lace is made, the cultural and economic impacts of lace, and see artifacts of the Ipswich Lace industry era. We expect to have the largest gathering of lacemakers in Ipswich for over 200 years, some demonstrating the traditional Ipswich lace styles and others with contemporary lace examples. We are also part of the Gather Fiber Symposium series running in the Boston area this April.

School Vacation Week: Celebrating 250 Years of the American Revolution
2025-04-26 09:30 - 16:00 | Historic Beverly, 117 Cabot Street, Beverly, MA, 01915, United States
Hands-On History Day: Weaponries of the American Revolution
Stop by the Cabot House to explore and learn about some weapons used during the Revolution. Touchable objects on view include muskets, musket balls, canon balls, and more!

School Vacation Week: Celebrating 250 Years of the American Revolution
2025-04-26 09:30 - 16:00 | Historic Beverly, 117 Cabot Street, Beverly, MA, 01915, United States
Women of the Revolution
Join us as we celebrate the 250th anniversary of the Revolutionary War! Explore the Historic Beverly galleries, showcasing fascinating artifacts from the Revolution. Each gallery will also feature “Make and Take” stations with engaging activities inspired by the pastimes of militia members during their wartime encampments.
Drop-in story time at 10:00am for a, “Her Name Was Mary Katharine: The Only Woman Whose Name Is on the Declaration of Independence” by Ella Schwartz. Stay after story time to explore Historic Beverly’s reading copy of the Declaration of Independence and then try your hand at using a quill pen.
Drop-in story time at 2:00pm for a reading of, “They Called Her Molly Pitcher” by Anne Rockwell. Stay after story time to make your own toilet paper roll cannon .
Story times recommended for Gr. 3-5, drop-in crafts and activities open to all ages

South Shore History Symposium 2025: Revolutionary Connections: The South Shore and the War for Independence
2025-04-26 09:00 - 14:00 | The Spire Center for the Performing Arts, Court Street 25 1/2, Plymouth, Massachusetts, 02360, United States
Revolutionary Connections: The South Shore and the War for Independence
Registration: 8:30 a.m.
Presentations: 9:20 a.m. to 12:45 p.m.
The Spire Center for the Performing Arts, 25 ½ Court Street, Plymouth
Schedule:
8:30 a.m. Registration & Refreshments
9:15 a.m. Welcoming Remarks, Donna Curtin, Back Roads of the South Shore Chair and Executive Director of Pilgrim Hall Museum
9:20 a.m. Tea, Tories, and the Almost-Battle of Marshfield, Patrick Browne, Executive Director of Plymouth Antiquarian Society
10:00 a.m. The Revolutionary Life of Mary Cushing Lincoln, Michelle Coughlin, Author and Historian
10:40 a.m. A Comedy of Errors: Plymouth County Militia and the American Campaigns in Rhode Island, James Glinski, Author and Historian
11:20 a.m. Coffee Break
11:30 a.m. Mercy Otis Warren, the First Female Historian of the American Revolution, Nancy Rubin Stuart, President of the Mercy Otis Warren Society and Executive Director of the Cape Cod Writers Center.
12:10 p.m. South Shore Stories of Bailey’s 2nd Mass Regiment, Stephen O’Neill, Executive Director, Hanover Historical Society & Director, Dyer Memorial Library

♫♬ Paul Revere & Friends™
2025-04-25 14:30 - 15:30 | Natick Community Senior Center, East Central Street 117, Natick, MA, 01760, United States
Musical Ventriloquist Kevin Driscoll (aka Paul Revere) is a Massachusetts Certified Teacher with decades of teaching experience. The Paul Revere & Friends™ INTERACTIVE performance is in full compliance with the goals of the Massachusetts History and Social Science Curriculum Framework [3.T6]. The INTERACTIVE learning experience includes “the beginning of the Revolution at Lexington and Concord, Massachusetts (April 1775) … and the roles of Revolutionary leaders such as Paul Revere…”
This event is free and appropriate for all ages.

School Vacation Week: Celebrating 250 Years of the American Revolution
2025-04-25 09:30 - 16:00 | Historic Beverly, 117 Cabot Street, Beverly, MA, 01915, United States
The Ride of Paul Revere
Join us as we celebrate the 250th anniversary of the Revolutionary War! Explore the Historic Beverly galleries, showcasing fascinating artifacts from the Revolution. Each gallery will also feature “Make and Take” stations with engaging activities inspired by the pastimes of militia members during their wartime encampments. Stop into the Cabot House at 11:00 am or 2:00 pm for a reading of “Paul Revere’s Ride” by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow as illustrated in the picture book by Ted Rand. Stay after story time to assemble and decorate a wooden lantern to take home. Story times recommended for Gr. 3-5, drop-in crafts and activities open to all ages

Claiming Sovereignty
2025-04-24 19:00 - 20:00 | Concord Museum, 53 Cambridge Turnpike, Concord, MA, 01742, United States
Elizabeth James-Perry, Aquinnah Wampanoag Culture Bearer and Artist, joins us for a conversation on the experiences of Native communities in the Massachusetts area during the American Revolution. As part of the new special exhibition Whose Revolution Elizabeth James-Perry created a Wampum choker that represents the kind of object an eighteenth-century Wampanoag soldier from eastern Massachusetts, active in the Revolutionary War Militia and Naval companies might choose to wear into battle. In the forum, learn more about the creation of the chocker and its significance. Arrive early for an opportunity to view the Wampum choker in the special exhibition Whose Revolution.
Free Members | $10 Non-Members | Free Virtual

School Vacation Week: Celebrating 250 Years of the American Revolution
2025-04-24 09:30 - 16:00 | Historic Beverly, 117 Cabot Street, Beverly, MA, 01915, United States
Revolutionary Friendships
Join us as we celebrate the 250th anniversary of the Revolutionary War! Explore the Historic Beverly galleries, showcasing fascinating artifacts from the Revolution. Each gallery will also feature “Make and Take” stations with engaging activities inspired by the pastimes of militia members during their wartime encampments. Drop-in story time at 10:00am and 2:00pm for readings of the storybook, “Revolutionary Friends: General George Washington and the Marquis de Lafayette” by Selene Castrovilla. Stay after story time to create your own friendship quilt to take home to give to a beloved friend and make a square to add to our quilt on view
Story times recommended for Gr. 3-5, drop-in crafts and activities open to all ages

Facing Colonel Alexander Leslie
2025-04-23 19:00 - 20:00 | Tapley Memorial Hall, 13 Page Street, Danvers, MA, 01923, United States
How, why & where the first land battle of the American Revolution could have happened at Salem’s North Bridge in February 1775 instead of in Lexington and at Concord’s North Bridge on April 19th.
Less than two months before April 19th in 1775, the American Revolution’s first land battle could have taken place in Marblehead and/or Salem instead of in Lexington and Concord, in the exact same scenario. The “Salem Alarm” event that occurred in Salem on February 26th, 1775 and later became known as “Leslie’s Retreat,” is now quite familiar — especially after the big 250th anniversary reenactment a few weeks ago, and several educational events about it.
Here in Danvers on April 23, an illustrated program will explore the human side of the near-miss episode, along with its geographical and social context.
Who was the “Leslie” of “Leslie’s Retreat” ? — Why did he and his Regular Army troops march through the crowded and volatile metropolis of Marblehead to march into Salem? — And where in Marblehead did they land?
Detail of a painting by J.O.J. Frost (1920s), depicting the landing of Colonel Leslie’s troops at a cove in Marblehead Harbor. Marblehead Museum collection.

Childrens' Reenactment of the Battle of Lexington
2025-04-23 12:30 - 13:45, 2025-04-23 10:00 - 11:15 | The Depot, 13 Depot Square, Lexington, 02420, United States
Calling all aspiring young Patriots and Redcoats! Lexington Historical Society, in partnership with the Lexington Minute Men and His Majesty’s 10th Regiment of Foot, welcome all willing participants for an interactive reenactment of the Battle of Lexington! Participants will be trained by members of the Lexington Minute Men or His Majesty’s 10th Regiment of Foot before getting the chance to march onto the historic Lexington Battle Green and reenact the first battle of the American Revolution. Guardians are encouraged to drop off their children for training and return to view the battle reenactment. After the battle, participants will have a chance to interact with members of both the Lexington Minute Men and His Majesty’s 10th Regiment of Foot.
Choose from 10:00 – 11:15 AM or 12:30 – 1:45 PM.
$10 per child”

School Vacation Week: Celebrating 250 Years of the American Revolution
2025-04-23 09:30 - 16:00 | Historic Beverly, 117 Cabot Street, Beverly, MA, 01915, United States
Revolutionary War Game Day!
Join us as we celebrate the 250th anniversary of the Revolutionary War! Explore the Historic Beverly galleries, showcasing fascinating artifacts from the Revolution. Each gallery will also feature “Make and Take” stations with engaging activities inspired by the pastimes of militia members during their wartime encampments. Visit the Cabot House to play 18th century games: play a round of Fox and Geese or Achi and then take copies home for yourself! Play a game of Dominoes using playing pieces of the era, get moving with a Hoop and Stick or a game of Ninepins! Then try your hand at Quoits, Balero, Draughts, or Knuckles!

Cambridge Innovation Tour - April School Vacation Week
2025-04-22 13:00 - 14:30 | 50 Broadway, Cambridge, MA, Broadway 50, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 02142, United States
Want to learn more about the scientists, inventors, and entrepreneurs who made Cambridge one of the most innovative cities in the world? Join us for a special tour of The Innovation Trail, supported by the City of Cambridge and MA 250.
From anti-aging technology to gene-editing, the newest discoveries coming out of Cambridge are building on the historical inventions of things as diverse as woven fire hoses and the microwave oven. See which of today’s cutting-edge discoveries will be in the history books of the future.
We’ll start at the Boston Marriott in Kendall Square, just above the Kendall Square T station. If you have kids interested in STEM and entrepreneurship, you won’t want to miss this tour! The tour will run about 90 minutes. Please dress for the day’s weather!
We’re proud that this walking tour earned a “Best of Boston” award from Boston Magazine in 2023.
This 1 PM tour on April 22nd is geared to families with kids who are on April school vacation, and people who work in Kendall Square and can take a slightly extended lunch break. We’d love to have you join us! (And if you do come — please tag us in any photos that you post on Instagram or other social media: @bostoninnotrail.) This tour will be led by Julia Clark of Boston History Co.

Innovation Trail Tour - Kendall Square
2025-04-22 13:00 - 14:30 | Boston Marriott Cambridge, Broadway 50, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 02142, United States
Want to learn more about the scientists, inventors, and entrepreneurs who made Cambridge one of the most innovative cities in the world? Join us for a special tour of The Innovation Trail, supported by the City of Cambridge and MA 250.
From anti-aging technology to gene-editing, the newest discoveries coming out of Cambridge are building on the historical inventions of things as diverse as woven fire hoses and the microwave oven. See which of today’s cutting-edge discoveries will be in the history books of the future.
We’ll start at the Boston Marriott in Kendall Square, just above the Kendall Square T station. If you have kids interested in STEM and entrepreneurship, you won’t want to miss this tour! The tour will run about 90 minutes. Please dress for the day’s weather!
We’re proud that this walking tour earned a “Best of Boston” award from Boston Magazine in 2023.
This 1 PM tour on April 22nd is geared to families with kids who are on April school vacation, and people who work in Kendall Square and can take a slightly extended lunch break. We’d love to have you join us! (And if you do come — please tag us in any photos that you post on Instagram or other social media: @bostoninnotrail.) This tour will be led by Julia Clark of Boston History Co.
These tickets are free thanks to generous support from the City of Cambridge and MA 250. Space is limited, so please cancel your order if you are unable to make it so that someone else can use that ticket.
#CambMA250 and #MA250.

Naturalization Ceremony
2025-04-22 11:00 - 12:00 | Lexington Battle Green, Lexington Battle Green, Lexington, 02421, United States
On April 19th, 1775, Lexington’s town common made history as the site of the first shot of the Revolutionary War. From that war, a new country was born. Now, 250 years later, we welcome a group of aspiring Americans to this historic ground as they are formally naturalized as American citizens and become a part of our colorful national tapestry. This event is open to the public, but seating is extremely limited.

Arrival of Paul Revere & William Dawes on Horseback from Boston at Hastings Park
2025-04-21 13:00 - 17:00 | Hastings Park, 10 Lincoln St, Lexington, 02421, United States
Every year on Patriot’s Day, the National Lancers reenact the rides of Paul Revere and William Dawes.
Paul Revere leaves on horseback from the North End, Boston and William Dawes on horseback leaves from John Elliot Square, 10 Putnam St., Roxbury, warning the people while on their way to Lexington of the pending arrival of the British Regulars. They arrive separately after Revere travels through Charlestown, Somerville, Medford and Arlington. While Dawes travels through Roxbury, Brookline, Cambridge and Arlington en route to Lexington.

Black History at the Hancock-Clarke House
2025-04-21 11:00 - 17:00 | Hancock-Clarke House, 36 Hancock Street, Lexington, 02420, United States
The Hancock-Clarke House holds a unique role as the only site of enslavement open to the public in Lexington. Inside the museum, learn about Jack and Dinah, two individuals enslaved by the Hancock family. Outside, in partnership with the Association of Black Citizens of Lexington, meet local researchers who are working to put Lexington’s 18th century Black history on the map. Learn more about this vibrant and interconnected community, from the Burdoos who lived free in town in the 17th century, to the Chessors who helped the Clarke family spin flax, to the Barbodoeses, who became abolitionists.
