Much of the architecture of modern Lexington reflects its distinguished past. The railway station, for example, is in the chaste Colonial tradition. So is the Cary Memorial Building (1928) which serves as a Town Hall. Among other paintings it contains the famous canvas of the Battle of Lexington, “The Dawn of Liberty,” by Henry Sandham.] [Illustration: STATUE OF CAPTAIN JOHN PARKER, COMMANDER OF THE MINUTEMEN Henry H. Kitson, Sculptor] [Illustration: THE BATTLE GREEN—LEXINGTON COMMON On this triangular village green, “Birthplace of American Liberty,” the little group of embattled minutemen under Captain John Parker faced an advance guard of four hundred British regulars in the pale dawn of April 19, 1775.] [Illustration: THE HOUSE OF MARRETT AND NATHAN MUNROE, LEXINGTON COMMON This house, built in 1729, was a mute witness of the stirring resistance of the minutemen. Nathan Munroe was a member of Captain Parker’s company.] [Illustration: THE BATTLE GREEN IN MID-WINTER At the left is the first Revolutionary monument to be erected, dedicated to the memory of the men killed at the Battle of Lexington. Their remains are still kept in a tomb at the rear of the granite shaft. Washington and Lafayette both visited this spot.] [Illustration: SPRINGTIME ON THE BATTLE GREEN The view shows the location of the line where the minutemen made their heroic stand. The First Parish Church, facing the Green, dates from 1847, the previous church having occupied a site on the Common itself.] [Illustration: DOORWAY OF THE JONATHAN HARRINGTON HOUSE] [Illustration: THE HOUSE OF JONATHAN HARRINGTON, LEXINGTON COMMON Jonathan Harrington, one of the minutemen wounded by British bullets, dragged himself to the doorway of his house facing the Battle Green and died there at his wife’s feet.] [Illustration: THE BOULDER ON LEXINGTON COMMON Marking the line established by the minutemen on the morning of April 19, 1775. On it are inscribed the words of Captain Parker’s immortal command: “Stand your ground. Don’t fire unless fired upon, but if they mean to have a war let it begin here.”] [Illustration: THE OLD BELFRY To hold the town bell, a little wooden building was erected on a hill overlooking the Common in 1761. A few years later it was moved to the Common, where it sounded the alarm to the minutemen on the morning of April 19th. An exact reproduction of the old belfry has now been erected on the original site. The bell has long since vanished, but its tongue is still preserved.] [Illustration: A WINTRY DETAIL OF THE BUCKMAN TAVERN] [Illustration: THE BUCKMAN TAVERN (1690), MEETING PLACE OF THE MINUTEMEN, Lexington Common