© Beth van Duzer
Silent Witnesses:
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When thinking of famous walls in history, what are the first that come to mind? The Great Wall of China, Hadrian’s Wall, and the Berlin Wall are all common answers. What about the stone walls at Minute Man National Historical Park? Those simple barriers might not be the first wall you think of, but their role in history is just as important as the more well-known walls. Before glaciation, the Merrimack River continued its southward flow right over Concord. The rocks in our area are rounded thanks to the flow of that ancient river. Once glaciers mashed and molded the land as they receded, the Merrimack took a sharp turn in what is now Lowell and left a land full of rounded stones behind. These stones proved useful for Concordians. After Europeans settled the town in 1635, the founding farmers worked the land. While tilling, they discovered fields full of stones. These stones were collected and used as boundaries to make the farmland more usable and give the natural material a purpose. The stone wall allowed the new residents to have a visual border for their property. As the area became more deforested, using the alternative and plentiful materials left behind by the receding glaciers was necessary. Perhaps the first famous image of a stone wall in American history is Amos Doolittle’s Print III: The Engagement at the North Bridge in Concord. The image shows three Redcoats on the Old Manse side of the rock wall while the rest of the Regular Army stretches out on the other side. Additionally, Ensign Jeremy Lister of the 10th Regiment of Foot mentions 62
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The Stone Walls of Minute Man National Historical Park BY BETH VAN DUZER in his journal how the Colonists used the stone walls as cover during the battles of April 19, 1775. More recently, scholar Robert M. Thorson posited that the stone wall between the Old Manse and the North Bridge “is a touchstone for millions of people that visit.” The walls in the park are an overlooked but essential piece of history. Visitors to the park often wonder if there are any walls Amos Doolittle’s Print III: The Engagement at the North Bridge that are original to the area. to occur before stating what portions of the Yes. Some walls are as old as park’s walls are older than others. the Revolutionary War, some are older, and Next time you visit Minute Man National some are newer. Various land use over the Historical Park, take a second glance at years means that walls you may have overlooked before. not all of the walls Sources: The stone walls were property borders, have original stones Lister, Jeremy. Concord Fight: offered cover for the Colonists, and and not all of the Being the Narrative of the were silent witnesses to a new nation’s walls are original. Tenth Regiment of Foot During beginning. Unlike other historical walls, Thorson noted in a the Early Months of the Siege Minute Man National Historical Park’s talk he gave to the of Boston Kessinger’s Legacy stone walls are an expected part of the Friends of Minute Reprints. Harvard University landscape with an unexpected history. Man National Press: Cambridge, MA, 1931. ——————————————————————— Historical Park that Thorson, Robert M. Stone Beth van Duzer is the General Manager at least one rock by Stone: The Magnificent of Concord Tour Company and recently at the bottom of a History in New England’s received her MA in History from wall on Battle Road Stone Walls Bloomsbury: Southern New Hampshire University. has a mark that New York, 2002. On walking tours, she enjoys sharing shows it was cut Thorson, Robert M. “Stone Concord and its residents’ histories with a steam drill Walls of Minute Man and how their stories continue to bit. Accordingly, National Park” Friends of shape the present. more studies need Minute Man Winter Lecture, Zoom, February 27, 2021.