Dan Antion

Concord Doors – #ThursdayDoors

Main Entrance

Last month, that is to say, February (now that we’re on April’s doorstep) I shared some doors from the historic Battle Green (Commons) in Lexington, Ma. I mentioned that both Lexington and neighboring Concord lay claim to firing the first shot, winning the first battle, burying the first casualties in the Revolutionary War. I wasn’t there. I don’t know. For all I know, they both could be right. Distances that seem trivial today, were reasons to form a new town in the 1600s. Generally, if you couldn’t easily get to church from your farm, you argued/asked for permission to build a new church and form a new town.

Colonial Inn, 1929.

Last week, I was back in Burlington, MA which, as you can see from the map, is not far from these two original colonial towns. Once again, I decided to scoot from my hotel at lunch and snag some historic doors. It was my first comfortable doorscursion of 2019. It was a nice day and temperatures were high enough that I wasn’t peeling my gloves off, every time I wanted to take a picture. I was also walking, so I was able to get multiple shots of some buildings.

The center of my activity is an area known as Monument Square, although the monument is in honor of the men from the region that fought in the U.S. Civil War. As you might expect, the buildings around the square have some history attached, and I think I can unearth some of it before next week. So, I’ll keep this week’s post short, confined to the doors I know. This would be the building at one end of the square, Concord’s Colonial Inn. The Colonial Inn dates back to 1716, and I have actually stayed in this hotel.

For several years, the New England Chapter of AIIM International held a meeting at the Colonial Inn in January. In 2013, I was fortunate to arrive the night before the meeting and spend a night in one of the inn’s historic rooms.

If you’re a fan of the SyFy Channel, you may remember the Colonial Inn from SyFy’s hit show Ghost Hunters which aired an hour-long episode on the Inn to explore paranormal experiences. Yes, it seems the inn is haunted. To be honest, I didn’t notice anything unusual the night I stayed there. Well, except for the key – I haven’t stayed in a hotel that used actual keys in over 20 years. The following is from the hotel’s website:

“Is Concord’s Colonial Inn haunted? Many think it is. While we can’t say for sure if ghosts inhabit the inn, many visitors do come each year seeking information about the paranormal occurrences at the property.”

Today’s visit to the historic, if not paranormal doors of New England is offered as part of Norm Frampton’s entertaining and informative weekly blogfest – Thursday Doors. Each week, Norm invites door aficionados from around the world to join him in a celebration of doors. If you want to participate, or if you just love looking at doors – who doesn’t? – head on up to Norm’s page.

By the way, I have switched back to the Classic Editor, so captions should be working.

Looking down the street, that’s the Colonial Inn at the back.
Concord’s Colonial Inn
I think this is the more modern section of the Inn.
Main Entrance
My room in the Colonial Inn.
My room in the Colonial Inn.
The view from my room
This is the last time I was ever handed a real key for a hotel room.
It’s interesting to see how close the building is to the street,
Colonial Inn, 1929.
Monument Sq from in front of the Colonial Inn, 1900.
The driveway is the exit from the Colonial Inn parking lot. The Cottage, is a furniture store that has been in business since the 1990s (but is closing soon).

59 comments

  1. I love those old images that show what the place used to look like. A real key? Wow. I’m even mildly confused when I have to handle an actual car key these days, Dan. So no gostly presence visited you on your stay eh? I once spent a Halloween nigtht at The Myrtles plantation in St Francisville, LA with some friends. While there were no sightings, I did have some strange things happen with my camera. I’m glad you solved your captions issue. Happy Thirsday!

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  9. New England town in all its glory. I’ll bet when the Colonial Inn was established in the 1700’s there was plenty of land surrounding it. But clearly by 1929 there was a road practically up to its door. Beautiful old building Dan. This building is proof that with proper maintenance to these “old timers” they can last seemingly forever. And it comes complete with ghosts too!
    🐾Ginger 🐾

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    • Thanks Ginger, I’m glad you like this. If you want to see change, you should see the entrance to their parking lot. I felt Like I was driving on the neighbor’s lawn.

      When I stayed there, one block of rooms had been upgraded to a more modern state, but the preserved some of the “historic” rooms as best they could. I wish I had taken pictures of the interior doors.Some were classics.

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    • Entropy. It takes constant attention to keep these places open for business. And, it does help to have a well-built building to start with. I’m watching as they put up a small building for retail/restaurant use, and I can’t imagine it being here in 50 years, let alone 300.

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  12. Hi Dan – I expect the area is quite delightful now … we’ve improved the way we look at history. Great that you were able to stay in the historic part … always good for a bit of nostalgia. Fun to be able to get out and have a good walk around in the middle of long meeting days … I get stumped if I can’t use a key – the old stick-in-the-mud here!! Cheers Hilary

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    • Thanks Hilary. It is such a good feeling to get outside and take my mind off of the various meeting themes. I’ve stayed in a few historic rooms, it’s always fun. The key was an extra touch

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    • Ha ha – patience, as Hugh would say, maybe they can fix this. I gave it a shot, but I had to go back for now. I’m trying to document it as best I can. I’ll submit something to those Happiness guys this weekend.

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  16. What a beautiful triangle or is it a real square? I love the historic images you included in your gallery and the wood beams in your room. Any danger of bumping your head on the lintel entering or exiting your room? The ceiling looked a bit low.

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  18. What a wonderful building, Dan, and a real key! That’s truly rare at hotels these days, but I like it. Today was the first day I could walk in the park without gloves if I so chose, but it was more comfortable with. However, taking them off to take a photo was no problem at all and it got warm enough (60) for me to open the upstairs windows for a bit to let in some fresh spring air!! I love it.

    janet

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  20. Wonderful doors post, Dan. The Colonial Inn is charming, and I’m glad they maintain their old fashioned character. Did you eat there? Indian pudding is a must! Thanks for a photo of your room and the real key!

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  21. Excellent photos. That’s awesome that you got to stay there. Was Room #3 in the show? I remember watching that episode. Back to the good ol’ classic editor. I may give the “G” a chance this weekend? Maybe…maybe I’ll wait until you get it mastered first?!

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  22. That’s a beautiful area. I appreciate the addition of old photos. It’s too bad the furniture place will be closing. I sure hope someone will love that building again, it’s so pretty. Nice you had some decent weather to door in :)

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