Concord's Colonial Inn

Concord's Colonial Inn (also known as Colonial Inn) is a historic inn in Concord, Massachusetts. Its original structure is still in use and was built in 1716.[1][2] It became a hotel in 1889.[3][4]

Concord's Colonial Inn
The inn's main entrance in 2010
Former namesThoreau House
The Colonial House
The Colonial
General information
Architectural styleAmerican colonial
LocationConcord, Massachusetts, U.S.
Address48 Monument Square
Concord, Massachusetts 01742
Coordinates42.46179°N 71.34954°W / 42.46179; -71.34954
Completed1716 (1716)
Opening1889 (1889)
OwnerMichael and Dorothy Harrington (since 2015)
Other information
Number of rooms54
Number of restaurants2
ParkingYes (off Lowell Street)
Website
www.concordscolonialinn.com

The inn is included in the National Register of Historic Places as part of the listed Concord Monument Square–Lexington Road Historic District.[5] It overlooks Monument Square on the square's northwestern side, and is one of the oldest properties listed on the Register.[6]

The inn was given its current name in 1900[3] after being known as The Colonial House (or The Colonial) for three years,[7][8] and has been a member of Historic Hotels of America since 2005.[4]

The building was formerly three separate constructions, combined into one in 1897. The central section is today's main inn, and it was used as an ammunitions store during the Revolutionary War; the Village Forge Tavern room was used as a storeroom for supplies.[9]

Original properties

Three of Concord's historic houses, formerly distinct from one another,[7] were joined to form the current structure in 1897.[10]

Thoreau House

The eastern section was built in 1716 by Colonel James Minot, grandfather of cabinetmaker Ammi White who lived there.[8] The Whites sold the house in 1799 to John Thoreau, maternal grandfather of Henry David Thoreau. John died in 1801, but the property remained the home of his son John Jr. (1787–1859) and his wife Cynthia Dunbar (1787–1872).[7] It became known as the Thoreau House in 1889, when this and the central building were purchased at auction by John Maynard Keyes[8][11] and used as a boarding house and a small hotel.[3]

Main building

In 1775,[12] during the Revolutionary War, the central section of the structure stored arms and provisions for the Concord Minutemen.[4]

The White House

The western section was the home of Deacon John White and his wife Esther Kettell. White would detain those people who travelled on the adjacent Lowell Road on the Sabbath.[13]

John Keyes purchased this building in 1897 and combined it with the other two, reopening as The Colonial.[8]

History
Locals keeping warm by the fire, circa 1920

Many inhabitants of Concord made the inn their winter home in the first half of the 20th century.[14] Around that time, the proprietor was William R. Rand.[15]

In 1960, the inn underwent a large expansion with the addition of the Prescott Wing (named for Revolutionary figure William Prescott), which doubled the number of rooms to 32.[3] A dining room, Merchants Row, was added in 1970, the name being a reference to John Thoreau, who was a merchant in Boston.[3][16] The inn has a second restaurant, The Liberty, which also includes Forge Tavern.[17]

In 1966, a visitor staying in room 24, claimed to see an apparition at her bedside.[8]

German hotelier Jurgen Demisch purchased the hotel in 1988. He owned it for 27 years,[18] selling it to Michael and Dorothy Harrington in 2015,[8] a year before the original building's 300th anniversary.

Notable visitors

In 1775, British spy "John Howe" is believed to have stayed at the inn. Under the order of General Thomas Gage, he was tasked with examining the "roads, bridge and fording places" to ascertain the best route for an army to take between Boston and Worcester "to destroy military stores deposited there." He returned via Concord, where he states he was introduced to Major John Buttrick and others and was invited to dine with them at the tavern. He states in his diary, published in Concord, New Hampshire, in 1827:[15]

I was now invited to take dinner at the tavern with a number of gentlemen. The conversation at dinner was respecting the Regulars at Boston which they expected out. ... By this time we had got through dinner. After dinner we walked up to the storehouse to examine some guns. I told them I could make any they wished. Here I found a quantity of flour, arms, and ammunition. After examining the gates and doors attached to yard and storehouse, I returned to the tavern, where, after taking some brandy and water I took leave of them.[15]

The authenticity of this source has been questioned.[19]

Henry David Thoreau lived at the inn with his aunts between 1835 and 1837 while he studied at Harvard University.[3][4]

In 1972, Jacqueline Kennedy, widow of former United States president John F. Kennedy, rented rooms at the inn when she first visited her daughter, Caroline, who was studying at Concord Academy.[20]

  • Main entrance
    Main entrance
  • Main façade, on Monument Street
    Main façade, on Monument Street
  • Sometime after 1898
    Sometime after 1898
  • 1929. The three separate original structures are marked by the chimney locations
    1929. The three separate original structures are marked by the chimney locations

References
  1. "Concord At Christmas", New York Times, December 5, 1982
  2. Registering the Past The Colonial Inn, a Hospitality Landmark, Renee Garrelick (1993)
  3. History – Concord's Colonial Inn
  4. Concord's Colonial Inn – Historic Hotels of America
  5. Built to Last: 100+ Year-Old Hotels East of the Mississippi, Stanley Turkel (2013), p. 104 ISBN 9781491810064
  6. Built to Last: 100+ Year-Old Hotels East of the Mississippi, Stanley Turkel (2013), p. 102 ISBN 9781491810064
  7. The History of Concord, Massachusetts, Vol. I, Colonial Concord, Volume 1, Alfred Sereno Hudson (1904), p. 311
  8. "History of the Wayside and Colonial inns" – The Boston Globe, October 23, 2015
  9. "Concord, MA Historic Liberty Restaurant". Concord's Colonial Inn. Retrieved 31 August 2022.
  10. Literary Trips: Following in the Footsteps of Fame, Volume 2, Victoria Brooks (2000) ISBN 9780968613719
  11. KEYES FAMILY CORRESPONDENCE, 1837-1851, Vault, A45, Keyes, Unit 6 – Concord Library
  12. Colonial America and the American Revolution, Clint Johnson (2006) ISBN 9780976601326
  13. Concord; a Pilgrimage to the Historic and Literary Center of America, Perry Walton, 1922, p. 15
  14. Concord; a Pilgrimage to the Historic and Literary Center of America, Perry Walton, 1922, p. 16
  15. The History of Concord, Massachusetts, Vol. I, Colonial Concord, Volume 1, Alfred Sereno Hudson (1904), p. 312
  16. Merchants Row at the Colonial Inn – Concord's Colonial Inn
  17. Liberty at the Colonial Inn – Concord's Colonial Inn
  18. "Colonial Inn to change hands" – Wicked Local Concord, July 21, 2015
  19. Fischer, David Hackett (1994). Paul Revere's Ride. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780199779659.
  20. American Legacy: The Story of John and Caroline Kennedy, C. David Heymann (2007), p. 185 ISBN 9780743497398
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