Buckman Tavern is an integral and important part of the historical setting of the first conflict of the War for American Independence, and it appears in the background of nearly every illustration depicting the brief fight between the British light infantry and the minutemen. It was built about 1690 by Benjamin Muzzey. In 1775 it was owned and operated by John Buckman, a member of the Lexington Minuteman Company, and was a favorite gathering place for the citizen-soldiers on days when they trained on the Lexington Green. Captain Parker's minutemen assembled at the tavern during the night and early morning as Major Pitcairn's British regulars approached from Boston, and the building still exhibits scars left by British musket balls fired at Parker's men drawn up on the Green. Buckman Tavern housed the first village store in Lexington, and later, in 1812, the first town post office.The interior of Buckman Tavern appears today very much as it did on that morning in 1775.
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