Lafayette Tour Marker, Reading, Massachusetts (MA-65)

President James Monroe invited the Marquis de Lafayette to visit the United States, his adopted country. Lafayette’s tour of all 24 states in 1824 and 1825 drew large crowds and sparked a renewal of patriotism. During the American Revolution, Lafayette’s intense advocacy of the American cause convinced King Louis XVI of France to send troops and ships, which proved crucial to the American victory at Yorktown. 

On June 21, 1825, General Lafayette visited Skinner’s hotel, where he partook of a refreshment and greeted local citizens. The June 23, 1825, edition of the Boston Commercial Gazette mentions the event: He started from Boston, June 21st, at 9 A.M.- passed through Charlestown and Medford, to Reading. In the first two mentioned towns, the people whom he met, without exception, respectfully saluted him, and many were drawn to the windows by his approach. At Skinner’s Hotel, Reading, a large number of persons crowded in to see him, and were received with great affability. The landlord refused any remuneration for the refreshment he supplied him and his attendants.

Learn about Revolutionary War Combat Strategy. Watch the Revolutionary War Animated Map. For a summary, read An Overview of the American Revolution.