WALK IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF WORCESTER'S REVOLUTIONARIES
A project by Worcester Historical Museum and Digital WorcesterFrom Worcester’s Meetinghouse, near the site of today’s City Hall to what we now know as Lincoln Square, Worcester patriots led Massachusetts and later the country toward Revolution. Auspiciously in September 1774, patriots from across the region assembled along Main Street to reject rule under Parliament’s Massachusetts Government Act, close the county courts, and shame their loyalist elite neighbors. Now you can join Worcester Historical Museum and walk in their footsteps, as they forced wellborn local defenders of royal government to walk a gauntlet of common men intent on defending their liberty or as they spread their revolutionary ideas between the town’s taverns and meetinghouse. Read more About Us
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SALISBURY MANSION
In 1767, when Stephen Salisbury turned 21, his brother Samuel sent him from Boston to open and operate a branch of the family store in Worcester. For five years Salisbury operated in rented quarters in what is now Lincoln Square. During that time he…
WORCESTER HISTORICAL MUSEUM
Founded in 1875, Worcester Historical Museum has the unique responsibility of collecting and sharing the stories, artifacts and documents of Worcester’s history. At its headquarters at 30 Elm Street, the Museum offers an annual calendar of exhibits,…
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HEYWOOD TAVERN
The Heywood Tavern, located at the site of the current deadhorse hill restaurant, was owned and operated by Daniel Heywood, whose family had operated the tavern since 1722. Its clientele was mostly Tory in outlook. It was one of the oldest taverns…
THE BOSTON POST ROAD
The Boston Post Road, which first came into existence in the 1670s, was Worcester’s means of accessing the wider world. To the east were the towns of Shrewsbury, Northborough, Marlborough and then Boston. To the west was the city of New York by way…
SALISBURY MANSION
In 1767, when Stephen Salisbury turned 21, his brother Samuel sent him from Boston to open and operate a branch of the family store in Worcester. For five years Salisbury operated in rented quarters in what is now Lincoln Square. During that time he…
GARDINER CHANDLER MANSION
In the years prior to the political upheaval of 1774, the town of Worcester was governed by a small group of men linked by marriage and common interests. This group included the Paines, the Putnams, and the Chandlers. Of these the Chandlers were…
THE GAUNTLET TO THE COURT HOUSE
Four times a year the Courts of Common Pleas and General Sessions of the Peace were held in the town of Worcester. By the summer of 1774 the Whig Party (Patriots) in the western counties of Massachusetts had created a solid resistance to royal rule.…
TIMOTHY BIGELOW MONUMENT
Born in Worcester in 1739, blacksmith Timothy Bigelow became not only a local leader of the Whig resistance to British rule but took on a larger role on the provincial and national levels. He was a member of the Worcester Committee of…