Revolutionary history comes to life in the rolling hills of MetroWest Boston

In the MetroWest region, the suburbs of Boston give way to rolling countryside sprinkled with towns and buildings that date from Colonial times and include the Federal, Georgian, and Victorian styles. In recent years this region has been defined by the proliferation of technology industries that occupy offices along Routes 128 and 495. This region includes the towns of Concord and Lexington, where a long-simmering political feud between the British government and the American colonists came to a climax on April 19, 1775, as British soldiers clashed with Colonial militiamen at Lexington, on North Bridge in Concord, and along the road to Boston. The fighting that began that day – later to be memorialized as the “shot heard ’round the world” – soon grew into a war for independence that lasted more than eight years. These places are preserved at the Minute Man National Historical Park in Concord, where visitors may explore the battlefield and learn about these historic events. On Patriot’s Day in April, a Massachusetts state holiday, re-enactment groups present portrayals of the battles.

Also in Concord is the Walden Pond State Reservation, preserving the location where the writer Henry David Thoreau lived from July 1845 to September 1847 and found the inspiration for his book, Walden. The reservation and surrounding Walden Woods are open for hiking, picnicking, and educational programs. People interested in the Transcendentalist movement of the 19th century can visit Fruitlands in the town of Harvard, the place where Amos Bronson Alcott, father of the author Louisa May Alcott, established in 1843 a short-lived utopian experiment in communal living. In the early 1900s the property was converted to an outdoor museum, which now offers Native American art and artifacts, a Shaker artifacts collection, and a gallery of American portraits and Hudson River School landscapes.

Don’t miss a chance to drive from town to town during fall foliage season for great color and roadside produce markets. Stay at first-class hotels along the highways, or in cozy bed-and-breakfasts or inns that dot the countryside. Watch for small historical museums or libraries, village greens, art galleries, and quaint restaurants.