Old Powder House

The Old Powder House is a thick, circular stone tower standing in the center of a small park. Built as a windmill in seventeen oh three, it became the largest supply of gunpowder for the Massachusetts Bay Colony. In seventeen seventy-four, General Thomas Gage ordered British soldiers to seize the powder stored here, sparking a massive public alarm that drew thousands of colonists to Cambridge the next day. Today, its weathered grey stones remain, marking the spot where tensions finally boiled over into revolution.