Buckman Tavern
Buckman Tavern
4.5
About
This Historic Tavern is one of the few colonial era buildings still standing around the Battle Green and was used by the Lexington Militia on April 19th, 1775 as a gathering place. It is now a Museum with self-guided audio tours. *Due to COVID-19 concerns, Buckman Tavern is closed until March 30th*
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4.5
239 reviews
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12
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3
pasldws
Boston, MA148 contributions
Jul 2022 • Family
Masks required (inside and outside). Currently 101 degrees and they required us to wear a mask because the Lexington Historical Society is requiring it. Seeing it was so hot outside, in the sun, it seemed unreasonable for this request, but the employees were so rude with their request, that we ended up leaving. So much for the fight for freedom from unreasonable rules.
Written 22 July 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
DLP
New Jersey3,945 contributions
Jul 2021 • Family
The Buckman tavern can be seen right off the green. This was the waiting place for the militia as they waited on word of The Regulars. This is a self guided tour that gives you some insight into that fateful night back in April 1775 when the first shots were fired. There are lots of artifacts to see and the building itself is well preserved. This is a good place to visit to educate yourself about some lesser known history in regards to the battle of Lexington.
Written 27 August 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
jaybeeFL
Palm Harbor, FL3,443 contributions
Aug 2021
Visited many of the key American Revolution sites in Concord-Lexington and disappointingly, many were still closed due to COVID restrictions. This old tavern is in great shape and was used by the colonials as a meeting place. It can be seen from the "Green" where some of the first skirmishes occurred. Plenty of nearby parking.
Written 20 August 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
recorder
Pineville, MO1,928 contributions
Sept 2022
We travelled all over the Boston Area; Plymouth, Concord, Nantucket, Provincetown, Lowell and this was the only place that required masks. That is their right, and it's also my right to refuse to pay to see it, especially when I had barely walked in the door when someone rudely pushed a mask at my face. So much for that.
Written 15 September 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
A Tripadvisor Member
On our last vist to the Buckman Tavern, I had an encounter with a resident of that tavern. I have to tell you that I am a skeptic when it comes to ghosts and spirits, but after my experience in the upstairs bedroom off the front room, I'm a believer. During the tour, I was slow to catch up with the rest of the group who were in the front room. I was coming from the bedroom area when I felt a sharp tug on my hair. I turned around and looked. . . .no one was there. Then, it happened again in two sharp successions, jerking my head back. It was like a childhood prankster pulling my hair! It would be interesting to hear if others have had such an encounter there as well.
Written 28 July 2002
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
newenglandpatriots54
boston1 contribution
The Buckman Tavern is as close to stepping back into the Revolutionary period as you can get. It's filled with original artifacts from that time period and the guided narrative tour is both educational and entertaining. They take you into the tap room where the minutemen slept on the floor, the night before the battle at the green, just across the street. During the 1700's there wasn't a drinking age, but as long as your belly lined up to the bar, you would be served, thus the expression " belly up to the bar'. You enter another sitting room where George Washington sat . The kitchen is my favorite because of it's large fireplace where they did their cooking, and again the little expressions they reference, still used today ( which I don't want to tell or it'll spoil the tour ) They talk of the Buckman Tavern having 4 candles in it's window, so travelers would recognize their meaning: 1 candle meant food, 2 meant lodging, 3 meant drink and the fourth meant lodging for their livestock. Thus the expression 4 star hotel:) You'll hear how travelers would pay a fee and then climb to the attc area where many beds were,and you were eligible to climb into an available bed, to sleep aside a complete stranger! My favorite part is the original table in the kitchen which served my great great grandfather, who was the doctor in Lexington at the time of the war. He was Joseph Fiske and the table in that kitchen today, is the same one, he used to perform surgery on the wounded minutemen and british soliders. As I've gone to the tavern many times with my family, we look at the table trying to imagine our gg grandfather standing next to the exact same table. The family also donated his grandfather clock which still chimes to this day. That's another thing to imagine he heard the same chimes that we are hearing 230 yrs later. Another favorite is the original door to the tavern, which is now on display with a musket hole in the wood from a bullet fired by a british solider across the street. They believe some of the minutemen or locals were upstairs yelling out to the british soliders from a window above. If you visit the Buckman Tavern, you can walk up the road to the Clark/Hancock house which is another must see if you are in Lexington. It holds the origianl drum used to call the minutemen to the battlefield, as well as numerous guns, etc from that time period. I hope you get to tour this treasure in history, as well as walk the original road the battles took place later that day on the 19th called Battle Road. It's lined with historical markers indicating various events that occured on that day!!
Written 15 February 2009
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
1776er
Cambridge, MA1 contribution
I toured the tavern the year of the 225th big blowout celebration of the revolution. At that time, I was told to join the tour in the room past the taproom as a tour had basically just started. The woman told me to stay behind at tour’s end so I would be able to learn the history of the taproom before I left. I wish I could remember all the expressions in English the tour guide explained using the taproom.
while I was trying to listen to the story of the taproom, I felt a persistent “pull” turning me to look back in the area of the secretary in the room just past the front doorway. I had been the last person out of that room. We proceeded to the entryway where the tour guide showed us the bullet hole(s) in the door from that fateful day. Someone asked if the upstairs was open to the public; she explained no. That same person inquired whether there was a ghost in residence. She said there was but would not go into further detail presumably due to tour duties as they were very busy that day.
Getting back to that “pull,” like I said I was the last person out of that room. The rest of the members in my group (we were all diverse; unknown to each other) left through the taproom and I remained as instructed. While listening to the new guide, I kept “feeling the need” to look back at the secretary near the window. Upon leaving the room, the chair had been placed in front as if waiting for someone to come by and sit down to write a letter. When I looked back the 2nd or 3rd time, the chair had been pulled out as if someone had backed the chair out and got up and out to the right. There was no one in that room as the tour hadn’t left the taproom!!
Since that time I have tried to find information about any possible ghosts at the tavern. I have not been able to find anything. I felt a very strong “green” presence. Perhaps a green dress, a woman named Green(e).
while I was trying to listen to the story of the taproom, I felt a persistent “pull” turning me to look back in the area of the secretary in the room just past the front doorway. I had been the last person out of that room. We proceeded to the entryway where the tour guide showed us the bullet hole(s) in the door from that fateful day. Someone asked if the upstairs was open to the public; she explained no. That same person inquired whether there was a ghost in residence. She said there was but would not go into further detail presumably due to tour duties as they were very busy that day.
Getting back to that “pull,” like I said I was the last person out of that room. The rest of the members in my group (we were all diverse; unknown to each other) left through the taproom and I remained as instructed. While listening to the new guide, I kept “feeling the need” to look back at the secretary near the window. Upon leaving the room, the chair had been placed in front as if waiting for someone to come by and sit down to write a letter. When I looked back the 2nd or 3rd time, the chair had been pulled out as if someone had backed the chair out and got up and out to the right. There was no one in that room as the tour hadn’t left the taproom!!
Since that time I have tried to find information about any possible ghosts at the tavern. I have not been able to find anything. I felt a very strong “green” presence. Perhaps a green dress, a woman named Green(e).
Written 23 February 2007
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
ASBCRB
Urbana, OH412 contributions
Aug 2021 • Couples
This is purely historical. Tour the tavern where John Hancock and Sam Adams were nearly captured when the British got to Lexington. Audio included with the tour. Currently an extra exhibit on Women’s Suffrage. Original doors ... duck!
Written 3 September 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
bcnett
Stoneham, MA440 contributions
Oct 2019
The Buckman Tavern along with the Clark-Hancock House and the Munroe Tavern are owned by the Lexington Historical Society. It cost $10.00 for this tavern or $20.00 to visit all three museums. The Clark-Hancock House is the only one to have guided tours, the first tour being at 10 o'clock. You visit the two taverns on your own.
The Buckman Tavern, which opens at 9:30, is located across from the Lexington Green. People could watch the April 19,1775 battle from the tavern windows. Some people actually fired shots from the tavern and shots were fired back at them -- the proof being the bullet hole that is in the front door.
You are given a telephone to listen to as you visit the tavern. As you enter each room, you press a number (1, 2, 3, 4, or 5 depending on the room). Having just visited the Newport Mansions with their uncomfortable headphones and hard to work devices, I found the telephone to be a very easy and comfortable way to listen to the information. I wish that they also had these telephones in the Munroe Tavern.
I was really moved by the important events that happened in these rooms prior to and during the Revolutionary War. I enjoyed seeing the kitchen, the women's dining room, the meeting room and the tap room. BEWARE there is an exhibit upstairs which we almost missed. The one we saw was on spreading news in 1775 as compared to today. I believe it changes from time to time.
There is free street parking, if you can find a space. This tavern also has the gift shop for all three museums. There is a rest room.
If you only have time to visit one of the taverns, I recommend this one. This one was more representative of a tavern and the telephones were easier to understand than what they had Munroe Tavern.
The Buckman Tavern, which opens at 9:30, is located across from the Lexington Green. People could watch the April 19,1775 battle from the tavern windows. Some people actually fired shots from the tavern and shots were fired back at them -- the proof being the bullet hole that is in the front door.
You are given a telephone to listen to as you visit the tavern. As you enter each room, you press a number (1, 2, 3, 4, or 5 depending on the room). Having just visited the Newport Mansions with their uncomfortable headphones and hard to work devices, I found the telephone to be a very easy and comfortable way to listen to the information. I wish that they also had these telephones in the Munroe Tavern.
I was really moved by the important events that happened in these rooms prior to and during the Revolutionary War. I enjoyed seeing the kitchen, the women's dining room, the meeting room and the tap room. BEWARE there is an exhibit upstairs which we almost missed. The one we saw was on spreading news in 1775 as compared to today. I believe it changes from time to time.
There is free street parking, if you can find a space. This tavern also has the gift shop for all three museums. There is a rest room.
If you only have time to visit one of the taverns, I recommend this one. This one was more representative of a tavern and the telephones were easier to understand than what they had Munroe Tavern.
Written 19 October 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Cwpappa
Las Vegas, NV235 contributions
Jul 2019 • Family
There are 3 buildings on the Lexington Historical Society combination ticket. Due to time, we only visited the Buckman Tavern and just saw the movie at the Hancock-Clarke house (we were too tired for another guided tour). We did not get a chance to visit the Munroe Tavern.
We really enjoyed our visit to the Buckman Tavern. Not only was the information in the audio self-paced tour interesting and informative, but the upstairs area was very engaging. We loved the correlation with today’s communication methods with the communication methods back in Revere’s time. The hands-on activities were also entertaining and educational for kids and adults.
We really enjoyed our visit to the Buckman Tavern. Not only was the information in the audio self-paced tour interesting and informative, but the upstairs area was very engaging. We loved the correlation with today’s communication methods with the communication methods back in Revere’s time. The hands-on activities were also entertaining and educational for kids and adults.
Written 5 July 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Thanks for your recent visit to and review of Lexington Historical Society's Buckman Tavern. We are pleased to read that you enjoyed your experience at Buckman Tavern and found our exhibit "Alamred!: 18th Century Social Media" so engaging. We rotate our exhibits every three years and will be installing a new one that is set to open in Spring of 2020, hopefully you'll get a chance to come back and see that one.
Written 29 July 2019
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
59Traveler618
Westwood, Massachusetts
Is this an appropriate trip to bring a group of seniors citizens on? Is there a tour available.? Thank you.
Written 24 September 2015
We also offer private guided tours depending on the size of your group. For more information on setting up a private tour please visit our website or contact our Manager of Education and Interpretation.
Written 5 October 2015
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