The Town Brook Historic and Archeological District is a historic district encompassing much of the length of
Town Brook and its surrounding landscape in
Plymouth, Massachusetts. This area has an industrial history that extends to 1620, when the
Pilgrims arrived on 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, r ...
'' and established
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 ...
. It extends roughly from the crossing of Billington Street (near where it crosses
Massachusetts Route 3
Route 3 is a state-numbered route in the U.S. state of Massachusetts, maintained by the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT). Spanning approximately along a north–south axis, it is inventoried with U.S. Route 3 (US 3) a ...
), to the mouth of the brook in Plymouth Harbor.
[National Register Nomination for Town Brook Historic and Archeological District. Available by request from the National Park Service.] The district was listed on the
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...
in 1995.
The district includes historical and archaeological resources that span more than three centuries. Included in these resources are four mill ponds, dams, herring runs, mill privileges (sites where mill operators were authorized to divert water, where industrial archaeological remains may be found), and a variety of housing from nearly every significant period in that time. The oldest house in the district is the
Richard Sparrow House built in 1640; it is also the oldest building standing in Plymouth.
[
The mills erected by the early settlers were used to saw wood and grind grain. As Plymouth prospered and grew, smaller industrial operations harnessed the brook's water power to perform other functions. During the 19th century, the nation's industrialization reached Town Brook, and mill complexes of larger size were also built. Around the turn of the 20th century, mills were established for processing iron in a variety of ways, some of whose buildings still survive today. A significant number of industrial properties from the 19th century were lost in the 20th century, often to fire. Interest in the area's rich history led to the establishment in the 1920s of Brewster Gardens, a public park near the mouth of the brook. Near the park is the Jenney Grist Mill, a 1970 reconstruction of an early grist mill which burned in 1837.][
]
See also
*
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Town Brook Historic And Archeological District
Historic districts in Plymouth County, Massachusetts
National Register of Historic Places in Plymouth County, Massachusetts
Plymouth, Massachusetts
Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Massachusetts