The Old North Bridge is the site of the opening battle of the American Revolutionary War — the skirmish on April 19, 1775, when colonial Minutemen confronted British Regulars who had marched from Boston to seize colonial weapons stored at Concord. The confrontation at the bridge resulted in the first organized colonial military resistance to British forces; the British retreated, and what began at Lexington and Concord became the American Revolution.
The current wooden bridge is a reconstruction — several have been built since the original bridge washed away — but the setting, with the Concord River below and the meadows stretching toward the Old Manse, is genuinely unchanged. The Minuteman statue by Daniel Chester French (1875) stands on the western bank, facing the British positions. The site is part of Minute Man National Historical Park; a small visitor center is nearby. In spring when the grass is high and the river is running, it is a beautiful place, and the contrast between the pastoral setting and what happened here gives it a particular quality.