Plymouth Rock is the traditional site of disembarkation of William Bradford and the ''

Mayflower ''Mayflower'' was an English ship that transported a group of English families, known today as the Pilgrims, from England to the New World in 1620. After a grueling 10 weeks at sea, ''Mayflower'', with 102 passengers and a crew of about 30, ...

'' Pilgrims who founded

Plymouth Colony Plymouth Colony (sometimes Plimouth) was, from 1620 to 1691, the first permanent English colony in New England and the second permanent English colony in North America, after the Jamestown Colony. It was first settled by the passengers on the ...

in December 1620. The Pilgrims did not refer to Plymouth Rock in any of their writings; the first known written reference to the rock dates to 1715 when it was described in the town boundary records as "a great rock." The first documented claim that Plymouth Rock was the landing place of the Pilgrims was made by 94-year-old Thomas Faunce in 1741, 121 years after the Pilgrims arrived in Plymouth. In 1774, the rock broke in half during an attempt to haul it to Town Square in

Plymouth Plymouth () is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to ...

. One portion remained in Town Square and was moved to

Pilgrim Hall Museum The Pilgrim Hall Museum at 75 Court Street in Plymouth, Massachusetts is the oldest public museum in the United States in continuous operation, having opened in 1824. History The Pilgrim Society, established in 1820, runs the museum. The museu ...

in 1834. It was rejoined with the other portion of the rock, which was still at its original site on the shore of

Plymouth Harbor Plymouth Harbor is a harbor located in Plymouth, a town in the South Shore region of the U.S. state of Massachusetts. It is part of the larger Plymouth Bay. Historically, Plymouth Harbor was the site of anchorage of the ''Mayflower'' where the ...

, in 1880. The date 1620 was inscribed at that time. The rock is now ensconced beneath a granite canopy.

History

Early identification

The two most significant primary sources on the founding of Plymouth Colony are Edward Winslow's 1622 '' Mourt's Relation'' and Bradford's 1630–1651 history '' Of Plymouth Plantation'', and neither refers to Plymouth Rock.Pilgrim Hall Museum, "Plymouth Rock." The rock first attracted public attention in 1741 when the residents of Plymouth began plans to build a wharf which would bury it. Before construction began, a 94-year-old church elder named Thomas Faunce declared that the boulder was the landing place of the ''Mayflower'' Pilgrims.Thacher, 29–30.Seelye, 616–617. He asked to be brought to the rock to say a farewell. According to Plymouth historian

James Thacher James Thacher (February 14, 1754 – May 26, 1844) was an American physician and writer, born in Barnstable, Massachusetts. Biography When Thacher was 16 he became an apprentice for Abner Hersey, a doctor from Barnstable, Massachusetts. From ...

Faunce's father had arrived in the colony aboard the ship '' Anne'' in 1623, just two years after the ''Mayflower'' landing, and Elder Faunce was born in 1647, when many of the ''Mayflower'' Pilgrims were still living, so his assertion made a strong impression on the people of Plymouth. The wharf was built but the rock left intact, the top portion protruding from the dirt so as to be visible to curious visitors. More recent generations have questioned Faunce's assertion, alleging that he invented the story or did not have the correct facts, given that he was not an eyewitness to the event. Journalist

Bill Bryson William McGuire Bryson (; born 8 December 1951) is an American–British journalist and author. Bryson has written a number of nonfiction books on topics including travel, the English language, and science. Born in the United States, he has b ...

, for example, wrote, "The one thing the Pilgrims certainly did not do was step ashore on Plymouth Rock", arguing that the boulder would have made an impractical landing spot. Others have pointed out that the Pilgrims landed at Provincetown to explore

Cape Cod Cape Cod is a peninsula extending into the Atlantic Ocean from the southeastern corner of mainland Massachusetts, in the northeastern United States. Its historic, maritime character and ample beaches attract heavy tourism during the summer mont ...

more than a month before they arrived in Plymouth harbor, which lessens the significance of where they set foot in Plymouth. In 1851, a group of Cape Cod residents formed the Cape Cod Association for the purpose of promoting Provincetown as the site of the original Pilgrim landing. Such efforts eventually led to the construction of the

Pilgrim Monument The Pilgrim Monument in Provincetown, Massachusetts, was built between 1907 and 1910 to commemorate the first landfall of the Pilgrims in 1620 and the signing of the Mayflower Compact in Provincetown Harbor. This campanile is the tallest all-gr ...

in Provincetown, which was completed in 1910.

Movements

Col. Theophilus Cotton (son of Josiah Cotton, a Plymouth magistrate) and the townspeople of

decided to move the rock in 1774. It was split into two parts, with the bottom portion left behind at the wharf and the top portion relocated to the town's meeting house. Captain William Coit wrote in '' The Pennsylvania Journal'' of November 29, 1775, that he brought captive British sailors ashore "upon the same rock our ancestors first trod." Plymouth Rock 1867

A large portion of the rock was relocated from Plymouth's meetinghouse to

Pilgrim Hall The Pilgrim Hall Museum at 75 Court Street in Plymouth, Massachusetts is the oldest public museum in the United States in continuous operation, having opened in 1824. History The Pilgrim Society, established in 1820, runs the museum. The museum t ...

in 1834. In 1859, the Pilgrim Society began building a Victorian canopy designed by Hammett Billings at the wharf over the portion of the rock left there, which was completed in 1867. The Pilgrim Hall section of the rock was moved back to its original wharf location in 1880, rejoined to the remaining portion, and the date "1620" was carved into it. In 1920, the rock was temporarily relocated so the old wharves could be removed and the waterfront landscaped to a design by architect Arthur Shurcliff, with a waterfront promenade behind a low seawall in such a way that, when the rock was returned to its original site, it would be at water level. The care of the rock was turned over to the

Commonwealth of Massachusetts Massachusetts ( Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' E ...

, and a new Roman Doric

portico A portico is a porch leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns or enclosed by walls. This idea was widely used in ancient Greece and has influenced many cul ...

was constructed, designed by McKim, Mead and White for viewing the tide-washed rock protected by gratings. During the rock's many journeys throughout the town of Plymouth, numerous pieces were taken, bought, and sold. Today approximately a third remains. It is estimated that the original Rock weighed . Some documents indicate that tourists or souvenir hunters chipped it down, although no pieces have been noticeably removed since 1880. Today there are pieces in Pilgrim Hall Museum and in the Smithsonian's

National Museum of American History The National Museum of American History: Kenneth E. Behring Center collects, preserves, and displays the heritage of the United States in the areas of social, political, cultural, scientific, and military history. Among the items on display is t ...

. A piece of the Rock is set on a pedestal in the cloister of historic

Plymouth Church of the Pilgrims Plymouth Church is an historic church located at 57 Orange Street between Henry and Hicks Streets in the Brooklyn Heights neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York City; the Church House has the address 75 Hicks Street. The church was built in 1849–50 ...

in Brooklyn Heights, New York. The church was formed by a merger of Plymouth Church and Church of the Pilgrims and was originally pastored by Henry Ward Beecher, brother of author

Harriet Beecher Stowe Harriet Elisabeth Beecher Stowe (; June 14, 1811 – July 1, 1896) was an American author and abolitionist. She came from the religious Beecher family and became best known for her novel '' Uncle Tom's Cabin'' (1852), which depicts the har ...

. In 1835, French author

Alexis de Tocqueville Alexis Charles Henri Clérel, comte de Tocqueville (; 29 July 180516 April 1859), colloquially known as Tocqueville (), was a French aristocrat, diplomat, political scientist, political philosopher and historian. He is best known for his wo ...

wrote:

State park attraction

Today, Plymouth Rock is managed by the Department of Conservation and Recreation for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts as part of

Pilgrim Memorial State Park Pilgrim Memorial State Park comprises two monuments — Plymouth Rock and the National Monument to the Forefathers — in Plymouth, Massachusetts. Closely related to these memorials is the Myles Standish Monument State Reservation which can be ...

. From April through November, Pilgrim Memorial is staffed by guides who inform visitors of the legend of Plymouth Rock.

Panorama

Citations

General and cited references

* Arner, Robert, "Plymouth Rock Revisited: The Landing of the Pilgrim Fathers", ''Journal of American Culture'' 6, no. 4, Winter 1983, pp. 25–35. * * Davis, Samuel, “Notes on Plymouth”,

Massachusetts Historical Society The Massachusetts Historical Society is a major historical archive specializing in early American, Massachusetts, and New England history. The Massachusetts Historical Society was established in 1791 and is located at 1154 Boylston Street in Bosto ...

Collections, vol. 3, 2nd ser., 1815. * McPhee, John
“Travels of the Rock”
''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...

'', February 26, 1990, pp. 108–117. * * * * * *

External links

Pilgrim Memorial State Park
{{Authority control American folklore Glacial erratics of Massachusetts History of North America History of Plymouth County, Massachusetts History of the Thirteen Colonies Individual rocks Landforms of Plymouth County, Massachusetts Monuments and memorials to the Pilgrims National Register of Historic Places in Plymouth County, Massachusetts Plymouth Colony Plymouth, Massachusetts Symbols of Massachusetts Tourist attractions in Plymouth County, Massachusetts