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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The King’s Arms Tavern, on the corner of Main and Elm streets, was established by Thomas Stearns in 1732. Stearns operated the tavern for 40 years. When he died in 1772 his widow, Mary, became proprietress and continued the business until 1784. Her…

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 or…

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…

In 1767, when Stephen Salisbury turned 21, his brother Samuel sent him from Boston to open and operate a branch of the family store in Worcester. For five years Salisbury operated in rented quarters in what is now Lincoln Square. During that time he…

In the years prior to the political upheaval of 1774, the town of Worcester was governed by a small group of men linked by marriage and common interests. This group included the Paines, the Putnams, and the Chandlers. Of these the Chandlers were…

Worcester’s Police Headquarters is located where Timothy Bigelow’s house and forge stood. In this house, on the banks of the Mill Brook that ran through the town, Bigelow not only lived but worked as a blacksmith. In 1767 he was awarded a license to…

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