Thomas Brooks inherited the original home from his father Noah Sr. around 1726. The current building, the Noah Brooks Tavern, was built in the 1790s by Noah Jr. and sits on North Great Road in an area known as Brooks Village. It is one of eleven houses within the Minute Man National Historic Park that still exists today.
On April 19, 1775, soldiers passed north of the house on their way to Concord and again on their way back to Boston. One Hartwell family account describes the King's army marching with bayonets that glistened like a field of waving grain. Musket shots were heard just below the tavern during the battles.
Rough, angry soldiers rushed the house and fired into the garret during the battle. Mary Hartwell and her children survived the shooting because the shots entered the garret. According to the family account, she heard the shots and trembled, believing their folks were killed, but was glad when the soldiers passed by the house.
The tavern ceased functioning in the 1830s and was sold to Samuel Hartwell in 1857. It stands today just south of the former Battle Road, on the site of a previous home that originally sat on ten acres and included a barn.
Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons
Written by Kyle McLonely
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