Visitors from across the nation gather to commemorate Paul Revere’s midnight ride, on 250th anniversary

Paul Revere s famous midnight ride will be reenacted Friday night years to the day that two lanterns were hung in the Old North Church The event will stretch from Boston s North End all the way to Lexington celebrating the anniversary of the beginning of the American Revolution Organizers of the ride say they re excited to see it all play out beginning at p m Planning for the historic celebration has been in the works for two years We ve all planned this in the same old taverns that the Sons of Liberty were planning the revolution back in the day including the Warren Tavern in Charlestown and we ve planned it at night And it s taken a lot of work it s been great work and we feel like we re ready commented Chris Murphy of Paul Revere s Ride to Revolution Visitors from across the United States were in the North End Friday ready to take in the history As a kid I reliably loved history and was amazed at Paul Revere and all the statues and everything The architecture here is just fantastic reported Dexter Jackson a visitor from Florida The Hemerly family came from Pennsylvania to see the Red Sox and the Freedom Trail including stops such as the Old North Church and Paul Revere s home He would go around on his horse and warn everybody that the British were coming mentioned -year-old Evan Hemerly Revere famously looked for a secret signal high atop the church alerting him whether the British Regulars would be on the move one lantern if by land and two if by sea A lot of things have been added to the story but it still stands that he hopped on that horseback and he rode to warn us the British were coming disclosed Jim Williamson also known as The Tie Dyed Tour Guide And because of that that was how we started off this great adventure into democracy The patriot supposed to have hung the two lanterns in the Old North Church Robert Newman is buried at Cobb s Hill Burying Ground And it s not far from there that Revere began his midnight ride Revere had a couple of friends put him in a row boat and take him across the Charles River He had to slip by a British warship the HMS Somerset but he did make it across safely according to historians His landing spot was where the USS Constitution is at the moment docked You re going to get to watch Paul cross in a rowboat right at p m tonight and that s going to be right before a historic drone show which is going to tell the whole story in the sky reported Rebecca Smerling of Boston Harbor Now The midnight ride took Revere through Medford but a British patrol stopped him short of his ultimate destination further west He didn t make it no But the message did and the work that he did in helping to spread it really put off this domino effect in helping to carry the message forward explained Elisabeth Colby of National Parks of Boston On Thursday Lexington native and Saturday Night Live alumna Rachel Dratch hosted the town s Patriots Day Award Ceremony saying she is honored to be part of history this weekend Meanwhile in Concord plenty of raised their voices at a population music event to region the historic milestone On Saturday morning at a m the famous battles of Lexington and Concord will be reenacted Administrators are expecting thousands of people to line the streets We officially begin a historic and deeply meaningful weekend for our town stated Lexington Town Manager Steve Bartha Jon and Mary Tener of Newton went to visit the Old North Bridge Friday where the British met the Minutemen and the first ordered shots of the revolution were fired I did my duty for several years And I live nearby And I reliably tear up excuse me when I come here revealed Jon Tener a Navy Veteran Local and federal law enforcement say safety will be top of mind at the celebratory events