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Groton Celebrates America’s 250th Anniversary
April 6 @ 1:00 pm - 4:00 pm
Take a walk back in time and discover Groton, Mass.’s contributions to America’s independence, the battles in Concord, Mass., and Boston’s Bunker Hill.
The program schedule for Groton’s celebration of America’s 250th anniversary is as follows:
1 p.m. Minutemen with fife and drum Gather on the Minuteman Common, Groton Center.
2 p.m. Joshua Vollmar Lecture at Lawrence Academy (Richardson-Mees Performing Arts Center).
First Parish Church at the northern end of Lawrence Academy’s campus
Join us to discover Groton citizens’ heroic role in the American Revolution 250 years ago! Joshua Vollmar will present a historical lecture and unveil a new audio tour of Groton’s landmark Revolutionary sites.
3 p.m. Reception to follow in the Conant Gallery.
Groton Celebrates
Today, Groton is a bedroom suburb northwest of Boston, with many professionals who work in the tech industry.
European settlers founded the town in 1655. During King Philip’s War, Native Americans burnt down all bur four buildings.
The townspeople supported the Patriot cause in the American Revolution. After the Boston Tea Party, the town passed a resolution thanking Boston “for their wise, prudent and spirited conduct at this alarming crisis.” Groton also resolved to boycott the tea industry until duties on tea were lifted.
In 1775, local minutemen assembled on the common in front of the First Parish Church. Then they marched to the Battles of Lexington and Concord. The town sent 101 men to the battle, but they arrived too late to fight.
The American commander at the Battle of Bunker Hill, William Prescott, was born in Groton. The town lost as many as 12 men at the battle, more than any other town.
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Learn more Revolutionary history in this complete guide to Revolutionary War Sites in New England. Brought to you by the New England Historical Society. Click here to order your copy in paperback,
Image of First Parish Church: By The original uploader was Decumanus at English Wikipedia. – Transferred from en.wikipedia to Commons by Quadell using CommonsHelper., CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=7159684