Built in 1710, Buckman Tavern was a central gathering place in Lexington and served as the meeting point for the Lexington militia on the morning of April 19, 1775. Several dozen militia members, led by Captain John Parker, had gathered in the tavern to await British troops; when definitive word came of their impending arrival, the men exited the building and formed two ranks on the Lexington Green just outside. Moments later, the first shots of the Revolutionary War were fired. The tavern still stands on its original site and is preserved today as a museum by the Lexington Historical Society.