The Old North Bridge
Site of one of the first battles between the American Minute Men and British troops on April 19, 1775. The troops for both armies had gathered on different sides of the Concord River. Discover why the British troops were there, why the Americans fired upon them, and how the battle developed. See the grave of the first British fatalities in the conflict. Also see the famous Minute Man statue, designed by Concord’s own Daniel Chester French (most famous for designing the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC). Learn where the troops went from the Bridge. This is the first stop on the tour because there are many other sites during our visit that will reference where the British and Americans also were on April 19 as well as its proximity to the Old Manse, which is where Concord’s literary significance began in the 1830s.

The Old Manse
This stately home on the banks of the Concord River has a spectacular view of the river and the Old North Bridge. Built in the late 1760s by Rev. William Emerson (Ralph Waldo’s grandfather), it was owned by the same family for 260 years. Waldo lived here in the mid-1830s before he bought his home on the Cambridge Turnpike, about a mile away. Waldo used the same upstairs study that overlooks the river as his grandfather did when Rev. Emerson watched the events at the Old North Bridge on April 19, 1775. It was in this study that Waldo wrote Nature, his first book and what was to become known as the Transcendentalist “Bible.”
Nathaniel Hawthorne and his bride, Sophia, moved into the Old Manse (and gave it that name) in 1842 when they were married. It was in the same upstairs study that Hawthorne wrote many of his short stories and crafted most of his book Mosses from an Old Manse, published in 1846.
The house has been restored complete with furnishings much the same way it appeared when the Hawthornes left it in 1845.

The Wayside
This was the first home in Concord purchased by the Alcott family, in 1845. The house is situated close to the Lexington Road at the foot of the hills and was referred to as “The Hillside.” It was here that the four Alcott daughters – Anna, Louisa May, Elizabeth, and Abby – lived and played, and many of their adventures were later captured in Louisa May’s novel Little Women where we come to know the girls as Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy. The Alcotts sold the home in 1852 to Nathaniel Hawthorne who, after eight years in Europe, returned to Concord in 1860 and made major renovations to the home, including a “writing tower” which still projects above the second floor of the house. It was in this writing tower that Hawthorne wrote his last works before his death in 1864.

The Orchard House
The second Concord home of the Alcott family, it was in this house that Louisa May Alcott wrote the book that made her famous, Little Women, in 1868. The house has been restored to those days when the Alcotts lived there, including Louisa May’s second floor bedroom complete with her original writing desk and inkwell. Many other Alcott artifacts are on display including the family china and books, Bronson’s bust of Socrates that he kept in his study, and original artwork painted by Louisa’s sister, May. Behind the Orchard House is the original Concord School of Philosophy building. Built in 1880, it was the first summer school for adults in the United States, and was the brainchild of Louisa May’s father, Bronson Alcott and his friends Waldo Emerson, Henry Thoreau, Frank Sanborn, and educator William Torry Harris, who was living in the Orchard House at the time. The school flourished for eight years until Bronson’s death in 1888.

The Emerson home
Situated at the corner of the Cambridge Turnpike and Lexington Road, this stately two-story white house was purchased by Emerson in 1835 just a few months before his marriage to Lidia Jackson. They would live in this house for the rest of their lives. While we will not be taking a tour of this house, we will be stopping there, for it is also located directly across the street from the Concord Museum. All of the furniture, shelving, and books from Emerson’s study in this house are now housed in the Museum.

The home of Thoreau’s birth
This two-story red house is located on Virginia Road, about 2 ½ miles from the center of Concord and about ½ mile from its original site. It is currently not occupied or open for tours as it is slated for renovation, but we will see where it was originally situated when Henry was born.

The Concord Museum
Also at the corner of the Cambridge Turnpike and Lexington Road opposite Emerson’s house, the Concord Museum houses Emerson’s study, Thoreau’s Walden Pond furniture, and one of the lamps used in the Boston Old North Church to signal Paul Revere. We will not be touring the museum due to time constraints.

Minute Man National Park
You will have the chance to see portions of the five mile preserved “highway” between Concord and the Lexington battlefield that served as both the path of the retreating British soldiers after the battle at the Old North Bridge as well as part of Paul Revere’s famous ride from Boston. We will stop at the spot where Revere was captured by the British (an often-overlooked historical fact).

The Concord Free Public Library
Located at the west end of Main Street in Concord, the library sits on grounds that once held a house inhabited by Henry Thoreau and his family. The library is a rich repository of artifacts not only of the Concord Writers but also of historical importance to the town. We will attempt to make arrangements for members of our group to see some of the literary artifacts including Henry Thoreau’s many surveys of properties in and around Concord (including the first survey of Walden Pond) depending upon availability of library personnel.

Walden Pond
Arguably one of the three most famous bodies of water in the world (after the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans), this 62-acre pond is in the midst of Walden Pond State Reservation and is preserved in much the same way it appeared to Thoreau when he lived there. We will visit the replica of Thoreau’s 10’ x 15’ house, walk the paths surrounding the pond, and visit the actual house site where Henry lived for two years and two months (1845-1847).

Sleepy Hollow Cemetery
A walking tour of the grounds and visits to the graves of all four Concord Writers on Author’s Ridge as well as some of the other luminaries of the town, including lesser known writers on “Minor Ridge” that includes the grave of Daniel Chester French (designer of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington DC).

Downtown Concord

sites of the old Concord Jail, the Colonial Inn, the Mill Dam area, the house where Thoreau died, the Old Burying Grounds, the Unitarian Church, and much more.

What we’ll discuss

• How did Concord become so historically important in the Revolutionary War.
• Why Henry Thoreau moved into his Pond house specifically on July 4, 1845 (it is not what you may think) as well as why he went to live there in the first place.
• Why did Emerson settle in Concord, and how much his influence affected the other writers in residence.
• The literary productivity of the four “Concord Writers” while in residence.
• The motivating factors that brought all four writers together to live there when they did, as well as the coincidences that took place allowing all four to be buried so closely together in Sleepy Hollow Cermetery.
• Where Henry Thoreau was buried originally and why his remains were moved.
• A comparison and contrast of the four writers.
• Why Henry Thoreau was arrested and jailed.
• How Hawthorne came to live in Concord, not once but twice, including how he came to be the only one not a member of the Emerson family to ever live there, and what they did to anger their landlords.
• What motivated Louisa May Alcott to become a force in the women’s movement, and some of her successes.
• How all four writers became famous when none of them was able to sustain themselves at a “real job” for any length of time.
• How Walden Pond was threatened by developers in the 1980s and the heroics it took for some specific visionaries to find for its preservation.
• A recommended reading list, both before and following this trip.
• How to incorporate the history of Concord and the lives of these writers into our curriculum.

The evening session

After the first afternoon of tours, we will check into a hotel in nearby Bedford, Mass. You will have about two hours to relax, get something to eat, browse local shops, or swim in the hotel pool before we will gather for the evening discussion in a conference room within the hotel.

You will be provided with refreshments while we discuss the literary and historical significance of what we’ve seen that day as well as what is on the agenda for the next day. You will participate in a presentation and discussion of how to incorporate what you’ve seen in your curriculum whether it be language arts or social studies, and how the two complement each other, especially in the context of the historical and literary Revolutions that took place here.
Attempts will be made to include a local scholar/historian who may be able to give you even more insights into the past as well as present efforts to preserve the artifacts as well as the ambiance that is the Concord/Bedford/Lexington/Lincoln, Massachusetts, heritage.

You will also be provided with a recommended reading list as part of your intial packet of information you will be given when you first board the bus in New Jersey. It is our hope that when you have the time to browse the book shops at the Old Manse, the Orchard House, Walden Pond or the booksellers in downtown Concord and Bedford that you will utilize this list to help