By Elizabeth Little and Kerry Glass

Bring history to your table with this beautifully detailed placemat featuring a historical map of Lincoln as it was in 1775. The result of eight years of meticulous research by Elizabeth Little and Kerry Glass, this map traces the early development of the town and its roadways. Originally created with the support of the Historical Commission in anticipation of the 200th anniversary of April 19, 1775, the full-sized map now hangs in the Lincoln Town Offices.

Many of the homes and landmarks shown on the map still stand today, offering a fascinating glimpse into Lincoln’s past. It’s the perfect keepsake for history enthusiasts, residents, and anyone who appreciates the story of this historic town.

By Donald L. Hafner

In the eighteenth century, the town of Lincoln was a small community lying between Lexington and Concord in rural Massachusetts. Lincoln was the site of one of the most ferocious battles on April 19, 1775, the opening day of the American Revolution.

Lincoln had a significant community of Black residents, both enslaved and free, who helped the town thrive in the years before the Revolution.  But as was so common in eighteenth‑century Massachusetts, little effort was made by the town of Lincoln to record even the most basic facts about its Black residents, whether free or enslaved, nor to acknowledge how their lives were intertwined with the white community around them.  From town records, one would hardly know they existed.  Lincoln’s Black population was not large, yet more than a hundred white residents lived under the same roof with an enslaved Black person, and vastly more mingled with their Black neighbors in church, in the market, and in the fields and workshops.

They lived entangled lives, Black and white, enslaved and free.  Here are their stories.

Author Donald L. Hafner is a retired college professor and a member of the Lincoln Historical Society.

By John C. MacClean

The definitive guide to Lincoln's history from Lincoln Town Historian, John C. MacLean. Describes in broad scope and engaging detail the unique three hundred year history of the people, farms, churches, controversies, and ideals that have given us the "rich harvest" of today's Lincoln.