WALK IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF WORCESTER'S REVOLUTIONARIES

From Worcester’s Meetinghouse, near the site of today’s City Hall to what we now know as Lincoln Square, Worcester patriots led Massachusetts and later the country toward Revolution. Auspiciously in September 1774, patriots from across the region assembled along Main Street to reject rule under Parliament’s Massachusetts Government Act, close the county courts, and shame their loyalist elite neighbors. Now you can join Worcester Historical Museum and walk in their footsteps, as they forced wellborn local defenders of royal government to walk a gauntlet of common men intent on defending their liberty or as they spread their revolutionary ideas between the town’s taverns and meetinghouse. Read more About Us

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Printer/patriot Isaiah Thomas founded this learned society in 1812. The Society hosts public tours on Wednesday afternoons, which include an up-close view of the press on which he printed news of the Revolution.

Founded in 1875, Worcester Historical Museum has the unique responsibility of collecting and sharing the stories, artifacts and documents of Worcester’s history. At its headquarters at 30 Elm Street, the Museum offers an annual calendar of exhibits,…

As Worcester County’s shire town (county seat), Worcester was where the Court of Common Pleas and Court of General Sessions of the Peace were held four times a year. When Court Week was in session, people from all over Worcester County came to sue…

In the 1770s Worcester had at least 10 taverns. Taverns provided food, drink, and lodging. They were also gathering places where men discussed farming, local business, and politics, and formed the hubs of political and social networks. Some were…

The art museum holds one of the world’s largest collections of Paul Revere silver. The shining star is perhaps the set of silver ordered by Dr. William Paine for his bride Lois Orne of Salem in 1773, the largest single commission of Paul Revere’s…

Until 1783 Worcester had only one church. The congregation met at the meeting house, located on the site of present-day City Hall. The meeting house was not only the place of worship but was a center of the town’s activities. Town meetings were held…