Lyles Station Historic School and Museum invites the community to view a replica of one of America’s most famous Revolutionary War lanterns as part of the nationwide America 250 commemoration honoring the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States on Wednesday, June 17, at 1:00 p.m. inside the Lyles Station Schoolhouse.

This traveling lantern has been making its way through Indiana, lighting the way to celebrate America’s 250th birthday. 

A symbol of the American Revolution and Paul Revere’s 1775 ride to warn the countryside of the British invasion, the America 250th Traveling Lantern will be on permanent display in Indianapolis at the Indiana War Memorial after making its way through Indiana’s counties. 

The lantern is a symbol of the signal displayed on April 18, 1775, from the steeple of Boston’s Old North Church.  Patriot leaders displayed the lanterns in the church steeple as a signal how the British troops would leave Boston, with the famous line “One if by land, two if by sea,” memorialized in the poem “The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere” by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.

Revere, along with William Dawes, Dr. Samuel Prescott, and others rode to inform colonial patriots that British forces were crossing the Charles River by boat.

A replica of the traveling lantern will be on permanent display in Lyles Station after it visits other spots in the county.