Much of the Battle Road Byway and sections now on the Battle Road Trail were originally Native American trails. These later became the Bay Road, which connected Boston Harbor all the way to Lake Champlain. The sections of Bay Road upon which the events of April 19, 1775 occurred have become known as Battle Road. In the nineteenth century, some of the road was rerouted to make it straighter, leaving sections such as the present-day Battle Road Trail to be used less frequently for vehicular traffic. Through “the careful study of maps and archaeological research,” Minute Man National Historical Park restored these secondary roads to their colonial appearance, thus creating the Battle Road Trail that is not open to motorized vehicles.
