On July 27, a Battle Green walking tour guide sporting breeches, stockings, two layers of shirts, and a traditional tricorne hat paused on the Green to ask tourists if they had any questions about the Battle of Lexington. Temperatures pushed 85 degrees, and with few clouds in the sky, shady respites were scarce.
One woman asked, “Are you hot?”
The guide, Casey Farnsworth, replied, “I’m very hot, it does not breathe,” gesturing to her outfit with a laugh.
The period clothing worn by the Lexington Visitors Center guides comes from a local vendor, who creates clothing authentic to the 18th century, in both style and material. Traditional women’s dress includes long skirts, while men wear breeches and vests. Most of the clothing is made of linen, and is the type of clothing that would have been worn by a commoner. “This period was very big on dress. Clothing showed your status, wealth, and who you were in the community,” Farnsworth said.
Lexington’s historical walking tours run four times per day, year-round. The tours begin at the diorama that depicts the Battle of Lexington inside the visitor’s center, then stop by the John Parker Minute Man statue, various historical markers on the Battle Green, and finally the Old Burying Ground — clocking in at about 1.5 hours outdoors. This prolonged period of weather exposure is mitigated through clothing modifications and other small tweaks to the tour.
The 21 guides at the Visitors Center are trained to keep themselves and others comfortable in the heat by adjusting the time spent by the indoor diorama and favoring stops in shaded areas. Guides will also check in with visitors frequently to ensure everyone is comfortable heat-wise.
While period dress is mandatory for tour guides, small adjustments to the uniform are permitted.
First, the uniform technically includes a jacket, but Farnsworth did not wear it while guiding her July 27 tour. “I’m dressed down for the heat,” she said. When the weather gets chillier, Farnsworth will bring the jacket back.
Second, the choice of footwear is up to the guide and can be optimized for the weather. Farnsworth opted for comfortable sneakers for walking, but could theoretically switch to boots when temperatures cool in the fall.
“I modify my tours a little bit [to accommodate the heat], but I think people want to see where the Battle of Lexington actually happened, so I manage it. We have reenactors in Lexington who stay in their period outfit, and do a lot more strenuous things than just walking around,” Farnsworth said. “It’s uncomfortable, but I drink a lot of water. We have to wear the period dress, but I want to because I enjoy thinking about how it was for the [Lexington residents] on April 19th.”
Over time, society has decided that shorter clothing correlates to physical coolness, but Jackson Rhodes, a tour services coordinator at the Lexington Visitors Center, claims that’s not always the case. Long clothing made of light, breathable material can also be cool in a different way — long skirts can generate a breeze. Rhodes pointed out that people living in the 18th century endured the heat while wearing this clothing, so the tour guides of today can, too. Summertime in Massachusetts is hotter in 2026 than it was in the 1700s, however.
On average, each tour has four visitors, which is a “good balance,” according to Rhodes. Most out-of-state visitors hail from Texas, Florida and California, while the majority of international visitors come from Australia, Germany, China and Japan.
Lexington residents are vastly underrepresented in tours. Even Rhodes, a Lexington resident, admitted, “Before my interview for this position, I had only been inside the Lexington Visitors Center once, and that was to use the bathroom.” He hopes to increase the number of Lexington residents who attend the Visitors Center’s tours, especially new residents.
In addition to walking and trolley tours, the Lexington Visitors Center launched Virtual Reality (VR) tours three months ago and is in the process of expanding the program. They run two 20-minute VR tour sessions per day.