Paul Revere
Boston, Suffolk County, Massachusetts
Marker Inscription
The Signal Lanterns of Paul Revere displayed in the steeple of this church April 18 1775 warned the country of the march of the British Troops to Lexington and Concord.
The Story
From this church's steeple on the night of April 18, 1775, signal lanterns flashed a warning that British regulars were on the move toward Lexington and Concord. The prearranged signal — famously tied to Paul Revere — set the alarm riders in motion across the Massachusetts countryside. Within hours, colonial militia were gathering for the fighting that would open the Revolutionary War.
Why it matters
The lantern signal from this steeple helped trigger the first battles of the American Revolution, making it one of the most storied moments in the nation's founding.
Plan your visit
NearbyMake a day of it — museums, food, and places to stay near this marker.
Museums & culture
- Griffin Museum at Digital Silver Imaging5.6 mi away
- Cyrus Dallin Art Museum6.0 mi away · 611 Massachusetts Avenue, Arlington, MA
- Jason Russell House6.3 mi away · 7 Jason Street, Arlington, MA
- Smith Museum Archives6.3 mi away · 5;7 Jason Terrace, MA
- Edmund Fowle House6.4 mi away · 26;28 Marshall Street, Watertown, MA
- Drive By Projects6.5 mi away · 81 Spring Street, Watertown, MA
Attractions
- Harvard Square3.3 mi away
- 1899 MIT Observatory site5.4 mi away
- Pickerel Rock6.2 mi away
- Arlington Center Historic District6.2 mi away
- Central Street Historical District6.3 mi away
- Stone Chimney6.3 mi away
Food & drink
- Lexington House of Pizza9.3 mi away
- Dunkin'10.2 mi away · 10 Woburn Street, Lexington, MA
- Clay Oven10.3 mi away · 1666 Massachusetts Avenue, Lexington, MA
- Formosa Taipei10.3 mi away
- Bruegger's Bagels10.3 mi away
- Spirit of India10.3 mi away
Places to stay
- Homewood Suites4.8 mi away · 1 Massachusetts Avenue, Arlington, MA
- Sonesta Select Boston Woburn Burlington10.4 mi away · 240 Mishawum Road, Woburn, MA
- Hilton Garden Inn10.5 mi away · 450 Totten Pond Road, Waltham, MA
- Crowne Plaza Boston - Woburn10.5 mi away · 15 Middlesex Canal Park
- The Lodge at Brandeis10.5 mi away
- Extended Stay America10.6 mi away · 52 Fourth Avenue
Places data © OpenStreetMap contributors. Hours and details change — call ahead.
Own a business near here? Add it to the map.
Related people
- · Paul Revere
Related events
- · Battles of Lexington and Concord
- · Midnight Ride of Paul Revere
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Thomas Hutchinson
Boston, MA
This marker notes the site of the mansion of Thomas Hutchinson, built about 1687 in Boston's North End. Hutchinson served as the colony's royal governor in the tense years before the Revolution, and his fine home stood as a symbol of Crown authority. It was famously ransacked by a mob during the Stamp Act protests of the 1760s.
Rachel Revere Overlook
Boston, MA
In the crowded North Square of Boston's North End, silversmith and patriot Paul Revere kept his home in the years surrounding the American Revolution. It was from this dense colonial neighborhood that Revere set out on his famous night ride in April 1775 to warn that British regulars were on the march. His wife, Rachel Walker Revere, held the household together through the upheaval of war and occupation, and it is for her that this overlook is named.
Paul Revere
Boston, MA
North Square was one of colonial Boston's most storied neighborhoods, home to the silversmith and patriot Paul Revere and his wife Rachel. Their neighbors included the British marine Major Pitcairn, royal Governor Thomas Hutchinson, and merchant families of the town. From here Revere carried the alarm that British troops were marching on Concord, and many local men joined the Boston Tea Party at Griffin's Wharf.
Samuel Adams
Boston, MA
Samuel Adams (1722–1803) was one of Boston's most relentless agitators for independence, turning taverns and town meetings into engines of revolution. A master organizer behind the Sons of Liberty and the committees of correspondence that knit the colonies together, he helped stage the Boston Tea Party and pushed the cause toward open defiance of the Crown. He signed the Declaration of Independence in 1776 and later served as governor of Massachusetts, never losing his reputation as a champion of ordinary people.