Among the many area activities you can enjoy as a guest of ours here at the Inn at Hastings Park in Lexington, MA, museum-going certainly is a prime draw. Given Lexington’s the Birthplace of American Liberty, marking some of the formative ground of the American Revolutionary War, it’s no surprise many of our guests are keen to delve into the incredible history and heritage this corner of Greater Boston has to offer.
Regional museums, though, aren’t restricted to the historically focused. Here’s a look at just a mere sampling of Lexington-area museums you can tour while lapping up our Relais & Châteaux hospitality at the Inn at Hastings Park!
Minute Man National Historic Park Visitor Centers
The Lexington area offers a surfeit of historical sites connected to the American Revolution, including (famously) its opening salvos. Besides such landmarks as the Lexington Battle Green and Hartwell and Buckman taverns, you can check out interpretive exhibits evoking this dramatic role in the formation of the United States of America via the Minute Man National Historic Park’s visitor centers.
At the North Bridge Visitor Center (174 Liberty Street, Concord, MA), for example, you can admire the vintage Revolutionary War cannon known as the Hancock: one of several smuggled out of Boston in September 1774 by Colonial Patriots.
And a striking 40-foot-long mural at the Minute Man Visitor Center (210 Grace North Road, Lincoln, MA) presents the Battles of Lexington and Concord in memorable fashion.
The Scottish Rite Masonic Museum & Library
The unique Scottish Rite Masonic Museum & Library (33 Marrett Road, Lexington, MA) journeys through the sweep of American history via the lens of Freemasonry and fraternalism. Established in 1975, its collection boasts better than 17,000 items, plus an additional massive holding through the Van Gorden-Williams Library Archives.
Ongoing exhibits at the Scottish Rite Masonic Museum & Library include American Masonic Presidents, while you can currently see such temporary exhibitions as The Masonic Hall of Fame: Extraordinary Freemasons in American History and From Head to Foot: Fraternal Regalia Illustrations.
The Griffin Museum of Photography
Situated on Judkins Pond in nearby Winchester, Massachusetts, the Griffin Museum of Photography (67 Shore Road, Winchester, MA) dedicates four on-site galleries to the diverse traditions and artistic legacy of photography, plus a pair of satellite galleries in the area. It fulfills the vision of pioneering Massachusetts photographer Arthur Griffin.
Upcoming spring exhibitions at the Griffin Museum of Photography include Traces of Existence/Huellas de Existencia (April 6th through June 9th), which will showcase the works of Alejandro Cartagena, Muriel Hasbun, and Alejandro Luperca Morales.
Explore Lexington & Greater Boston Museums on an Inn at Hastings Park Getaway
From the Golden Ball Tavern Museum in Weston, Massachusetts to such iconic Boston attractions as the Museum of Fine Arts, the Harvard Museum of Natural History, the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library & Museum, and the Boston Children’s Museum, our above list of regional museums has only scratched the surface of what’s on display within easy day-tripping distance of the Inn at Hastings Park. Use our historic boutique hotel as your springboard for museum explorations in Greater Boston!
