Welcome to Lincoln

Lincoln is a town in Middlesex County about 18 miles west of Boston by road, along Route 2. It pairs a historic town center and the small village around Lincoln Station with farms, woods, and conservation land, more than 80 miles of trails, part of Minute Man National Historical Park, and a stop on the Fitchburg commuter rail line.

About Lincoln

Native peoples fished and hunted along the Sudbury River and the town's ponds long before English settlement. Most of today's Lincoln was part of the Concord grant of 1635 and was farmed from the mid-1600s as the outskirts of Concord. After years of petitions it became a separate precinct in 1746, and in 1754 it was incorporated as a town from parts of Concord, Lexington, and Weston, named by Chambers Russell for his family's home in Lincolnshire, England.

In the early hours of April 19, 1775, a British patrol captured Paul Revere in Lincoln, and later that day Lincoln's minutemen were the first company from a neighboring town to reach Concord. Much of the fighting during the British retreat took place along the Battle Road in Lincoln. The Fitchburg Railroad reached South Lincoln in 1844, and from the late 1800s Bostonians built country estates on the hills, several of which became today's deCordova, Drumlin Farm, and Walden Woods Project. Lincoln borders Bedford to the north, Lexington to the northeast, Waltham to the east, Weston to the south, Wayland to the southwest, and Concord to the west.

Getting Around

Lincoln station on Lincoln Road in South Lincoln is on the MBTA Fitchburg Line, with direct trains to North Station in Boston, and several more Fitchburg Line stops are just over the line in Weston and Concord. Route 2 crosses the north end of town, Route 117 crosses the south, and Route 126 runs north and south toward Concord. Route 2 and Route 117 reach I-95/Route 128 just over the line in Lexington and Waltham. MBTA bus 76 runs from the Hanscom area to Alewife on the Red Line, and the five-mile Battle Road Trail runs through Minute Man National Historical Park.

Lincoln Real Estate

Lincoln real estate ranges from colonial farmhouses to modernist houses and homes built after World War II. Center-chimney farmhouses from the 1700s survive along the Battle Road and around town, joined by Federal houses, Greek Revival and Italianate homes, Queen Anne and Colonial Revival houses from the late 1800s, and bungalows in South Lincoln. Most of the town is zoned for single-family homes on lots of at least 80,000 square feet, just under two acres, and some neighborhoods were built as clusters that set aside conservation land.

Lincoln is also known for modernist architecture. The Gropius House on Baker Bridge Road, designed by Walter Gropius with Marcel Breuer and completed in 1938, is a National Historic Landmark and anchors a small group of 1930s modernist houses on Woods End Road. The Lincoln Center Historic District, listed on the National Register in 1985, covers the First Parish meetinghouse, the library, Bemis Hall, and houses from the mid-1700s. Areas include Lincoln Center, South Lincoln around the train station, and North Lincoln near Route 2 and the Battle Road.

Living in Lincoln

About a third of Lincoln is permanently protected open space, with more than 80 miles of trails used for walking, riding, and cross-country skiing. Mass Audubon's Drumlin Farm on Route 117 is a working farm and wildlife sanctuary with farm animals, crops, and trails, and deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum sits above Flint's Pond on the former de Cordova estate. Mount Misery, the town's largest conservation area, has trails near the Sudbury River and is on the Bay Circuit Trail.

Minute Man National Historical Park protects the Battle Road, the Paul Revere Capture Site, and Hartwell Tavern in Lincoln. Historic New England runs the Gropius House and the Codman House, built around 1740 and enlarged in the 1790s, and Codman Community Farms works part of the old Codman estate. Walden Pond is in Concord, and part of the state reservation around it, including Emerson's Cliff, extends into Lincoln, where the Walden Woods Project has its Thoreau Institute.

Questions About Lincoln

What kinds of homes are in Lincoln?

Lincoln has colonial farmhouses, Federal and Greek Revival homes, late 1800s Queen Anne and Colonial Revival houses, a notable group of modernist houses, and many single-family homes built after World War II, most on lots of at least 80,000 square feet.

How do you get to Boston from Lincoln?

Lincoln station on the MBTA Fitchburg Line has direct trains to North Station. By car, Route 2 heads east toward Cambridge and Boston, and I-95/Route 128 is just over the line in Lexington and Waltham.

Where was Paul Revere captured?

A British patrol stopped Paul Revere in Lincoln in the early hours of April 19, 1775. The capture site is marked beside the Battle Road in Minute Man National Historical Park.

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

Photos: Daderot, CC BY-SA 3.0 and John Phelan, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.