Visitors who have had the enriching experience of following a similar path come away with an inspired picture of this epic moment in American history. These pages do not attempt to record the familiar written story of Lexington and Concord, but they do aspire to capture a fragment of this inspired picture, as it exists today. [Illustration: ON LEXINGTON COMMON] [Illustration: THE MUNROE TAVERN (1695), LEXINGTON, EARL PERCY’S HEADQUARTERS ON APRIL 19, 1775] [Illustration: The Munroe Tavern] [Illustration: and Detail of the Newly Restored Facade] [Illustration: A CORNER OF THE EARL PERCY ROOM, MUNROE TAVERN The Munroe Tavern, built in 1695, was occupied by Earl Percy when he reached Lexington with reinforcements on the afternoon of April 19, 1775. The old hostelry was used as a hospital and headquarters for the British while the landlord, Sergeant William Munroe was playing his part with the minutemen, and his wife and children were hiding fearfully in the woods. Sergeant Munroe left the tavern in charge of a crippled neighbor, John Raymond, who was shot. The room above was originally the dining room, and is now dedicated to Earl Percy and filled with a rich collection of Revolutionary relics. The facade of the tavern was altered when it became a private residence, and it has only recently been restored to its former character, from data revealed in an old etching.] [Illustration: THE BARROOM, MUNROE TAVERN The barroom of the Munroe Tavern contains, among other relics, the remains of a British bullet hole in the ceiling and the original tavern sign, cut out of one piece of hard white pine, which hung outside the door.] [Illustration: THE WASHINGTON ROOM, MUNROE TAVERN George Washington dined at the Munroe Tavern on November 5, 1789. The landlord, then Colonel Munroe, cleared this bedchamber and arranged it as a private dining room for the distinguished guest. Washington sat in the chair at the left. The Sheraton table and the hat rack are the same ones used by him. The dishes used for the occasion are also preserved.] [Illustration: A Corner of the Old Bedroom of the Munroe Tavern] [Illustration: The Mason House (Built 1680) Is across the Road from the Munroe Tavern] [Illustration: Springtime Sycamores over an Old East Lexington House] [Illustration: THE FOLLEN CHURCH (1840), EAST LEXINGTON VILLAGE East Lexington village was reached by the British at early dawn on the 19th of April. It was here that Benjamin Wellington was captured and disarmed by British scouts, the first armed man to be taken in the Revolution. Most of East Lexington’s buildings now date from later periods.] [Illustration: MODERN LEXINGTON—THE CARY MEMORIAL BUILDING] [Illustration: MODERN LEXINGTON—THE RAILWAY STATION