Welcome to Concord

Concord is a historic town northwest of Boston, known for the North Bridge fight of April 19, 1775, and for the 19th-century writers who lived here, including Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Louisa May Alcott. Its homes range from colonial farmhouses and village houses in two historic centers to mid-century modern neighborhoods and properties bordering conservation land.

About Concord

The Native village of Musketaquid stood where the Sudbury and Assabet Rivers meet at Egg Rock to form the Concord River. In September 1635 the General Court ordered a plantation there and changed its name to Concord, and settlers led by Simon Willard bought the land beneath an oak known as Jethro's Tree. A historical marker on the Lincoln line calls it the first inland settlement in New England.

On April 19, 1775, militia and British regulars met at the North Bridge, now the heart of Minute Man National Historical Park, which follows the Battle Road east toward Lexington. In the next century Concord became the home of the Transcendentalists, and Thoreau lived in a cabin at Walden Pond from 1845 to 1847. West Concord grew separately in the 1800s from three mill and railroad villages, including Damondale at the brick Damon Mill on the Assabet River, which later merged into one village.

Getting Around

The Fitchburg Line stops at Concord station near the town center and at West Concord, running to North Station through Waltham and Porter Square in Cambridge. Route 2 crosses the town east to west, and Routes 2A, 62, 117, and 126 connect the village centers with neighboring towns.

Concord Real Estate

Concord's housing is mostly single-family homes, with a smaller number of condominiums and townhouses. Colonial and Federal houses line the old roads, and the town protects much of its historic fabric through six local historic districts: American Mile, Barrett Farm, Main Street, North Bridge and Monument Square, Church Street, and Hubbardville. Victorian and early 20th-century houses surround Concord Center and West Concord, and the 1950s Conantum neighborhood, designed by architect Carl Koch, is one of the area's early modernist communities. Farms, meadows, and conservation land separate many neighborhoods and give large parts of town an open, rural feel.

Living in Concord

Concord Center gathers around Monument Square, Main Street, and the Milldam, with shops, restaurants, and the town offices, while Commonwealth Avenue is the main street of West Concord. Literary landmarks are close together: the Old Manse, built in 1770 beside the North Bridge, Orchard House, the Alcott home where Louisa May Alcott set Little Women, the Wayside, and Author's Ridge in Sleepy Hollow Cemetery, where Emerson, Thoreau, Hawthorne, and Alcott are buried. The Concord Museum tells the town's story.

Outdoors, Walden Pond State Reservation offers swimming and trails around the pond, the Great Meadows National Wildlife Refuge is known for birding along the Concord River, and the rivers draw canoes and kayaks through the warmer months.

Questions About Concord

What kinds of homes are in Concord?

Mostly single-family homes, with a smaller number of condominiums and townhouses. Colonial and Federal houses line the old roads, Victorian and early 20th-century houses surround Concord Center and West Concord, and the 1950s Conantum neighborhood, designed by Carl Koch, is one of the area's early modernist communities.

How do you get to Boston from Concord?

The Fitchburg Line stops at Concord station near the town center and at West Concord, running to North Station through Waltham and Porter Square in Cambridge. Route 2 crosses the town east to west.

Does Concord have historic districts?

Yes. Concord has six local historic districts: American Mile, Barrett Farm, Main Street, North Bridge and Monument Square, Church Street, and Hubbardville.

To see homes for sale in Concord, browse the listings below. Thinking of buying or selling in Concord? Call (617) 848-9616 or get a free home valuation. Concord is part of our MetroWest guide.