Under threat of physical harm, Patriot printer Isaiah Thomas (1749-1831) fled Boston in 1775 to set up his press in Worcester. His newspaper, the Massachusetts Spy, was the first to report on the fighting in Lexington and Concord. His house, built on upper Main Street, was moved after his death to the rear of the court house lot to make room for construction of a new court house in 1845. The house was torn down in 1923. Fireplace tiles saved from the wreckage are on exhibit in the museum’s Rice Gallery.