Patriots' Day

Patriots' Day

Third Monday in April

The battles of Lexington and Concord, Massachusetts, marked the beginning of the American Revolution on April 19, 1775. This is a legal holiday in Massachusetts and Maine. Although no one really knows who fired the first shot on the Lexington green—"the shot heard 'round the world," in the words of Ralph Waldo Emerson—the British proceeded from Lexington to Concord, where there was a second bloody confrontation at North Bridge.
Residents of Maine and Massachusetts have observed Patriots' Day since the 18th century with costume parades, flag-raising ceremonies, and reenactments of the battles and the famous rides of Paul Revere and William Dawes, who were sent to warn their comrades in Concord of the British troops' approach. The Boston Marathon, one of the most famous of the world's marathon races, is run each year on Patriots' Day. Sometimes this day is referred to as Lexington Day or Battles of Lexington and Concord Day .

CONTACTS:
Library of Congress
101 Independence Ave. S.E.
Washington, D.C. 20540
202-707-5510; fax: 202-707-2076
www.loc.gov
Lexington Chamber of Commerce
1875 Massachusetts Ave.
Lexington, MA 02420
781-862-2480; fax: 781-862-5995
www.lexingtonchamber.org
Concord Chamber of Commerce
15 Walden St., Ste. 7
Concord, MA 01742
978-369-3120; fax: 978-369-1515
www.concordchamberofcommerce.org

SOURCES:
AmerBkDays-2000, p. 292
AnnivHol-2000, p. 64
DictDays-1988, pp. 68, 88
(c)

Celebration days: Apr 18, 2011; Apr 16, 2012; Apr 15, 2013; Apr 21, 2014; Apr 20, 2015