Concord Museum facts for kids

The Concord Museum.

The Concord Museum is a special place in Concord, Massachusetts, United States. It's known for its amazing collection of items from the American Revolution. It also has many things that belonged to famous writers like Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau.

After a big update in 2021, the museum also started showing items that tell the stories of enslaved people, Native American communities, and women from colonial times.

What You Can See at the Museum

Powder horn and gun in the Concord Museum

The Concord Museum first opened in 1886. However, its collections actually started much earlier, around 1850. Many of its old American items are very well-known and have a clear history. Some of the most important things you can see include:

• The Famous Lantern: This is the "one if by land, and two if by sea" lantern. It's said to have been hung in the Old North Church in 1775. This event became famous in the 1860 poem "Paul Revere's Ride" by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.
• Revolutionary War Items: You can see many objects from the American Revolution. These include powder horns, muskets (old guns), cannonballs, and fifes (small flutes used in military bands).
• Ralph Waldo Emerson's Study: The museum has a room set up just like Ralph Waldo Emerson's study. It includes his books and furniture, arranged as they were when he passed away in 1882.
• Henry David Thoreau's Belongings: The museum has the largest collection of items that belonged to Henry David Thoreau. There are over 250 objects, including the bed, desk, and chair from his cabin at Walden Pond. This is where Thoreau wrote his 1849 book A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers. He also found inspiration there for his famous 1854 book Walden.

Silver cup made by Boston silversmith Jacob Hurd, around 1735

Exploring Old Homes

The museum also has a wonderful collection of decorative arts from the 1600s, 1700s, and 1800s. This includes furniture, clocks, mirrors, fabrics, pottery, and metal items. Many of these objects are displayed in rooms set up to look like homes from different time periods:

• Early 1700s Room: This room shows what a main living area might have looked like around 1720 in a wealthy Concord citizen's house.
• Mid-1700s Room: Here you can see a tea table with old cups and silver. There are also period furnishings like tall chests and dressing tables.
• Early 1800s Room: This room displays typical furniture and items from the early 1800s.
• 1800s Dining Parlor: This dining room is decorated in a style popular in the 1800s, known as Neoclassical.

Other Interesting Collections

The museum also features other unique collections. You can see Native American stone tools. There are also household goods from the Puritan settlers. The museum has old posters from public lectures (lyceums) and cattle shows. You can also find clocks and other machines made right in Concord. Finally, there are works by the famous sculptor Daniel Chester French.

See also

In Spanish: Museo Concord para niños