This Massachusetts Town Is Older Than the State Itself

Plymouth, Massachusetts, was established a full 168 years before the state it calls home even existed. Although founded on December 21, 1620, by the Mayflower Pilgrims after their gruelling Atlantic crossing, these first settlers initially landed at what's now Provincetown on Cape Cod's tip several weeks earlier. But after careful exploration of the coastline, Plymouth Harbor was chosen for its protected anchorage, its fresh water, and the fields once farmed by the Patuxet who had lived there before the devastation of disease.

Why name their new settlement Plymouth? Well, that was simply due to the fact that their departure point in England had been the port city of Plymouth, Devon. Fast forward to today, and Plymouth now attracts over one million visitors a year, most of them here to walk in the footsteps of the Pilgrims who arrived here over 400 years ago.

From Colony to Industry

Plymouth's early colonial period certainly had its fair share of struggles. Despite being among the earliest English jury trials in North America and growing to some 3,000 residents by 1690, the independence of the Plymouth Colony ended in 1691 when it was forced to merge with the Massachusetts Bay Colony, with the new capital located in Boston.

The most devastating event in Plymouth's colonial period, however, occurred a few years earlier during King Philip's War (1675-6). The conflict began after the Plymouth Colony executed three Wampanoags for murder, sparking what was to become one of the bloodiest wars in U.S. history. Most settlements in the colony were attacked, some completely destroyed, and hundreds of colonists and thousands of Native Americans died.

By the 19th century, Plymouth had transformed from a struggling agricultural settlement into a thriving industrial center focusing on fishing, shipping, and ropemaking. The Plymouth Cordage Company, founded in 1824 and the world's largest rope and twine maker by the late 19th century, rigged ships worldwide, including the iconic USS Constitution, which you can visit in Charlestown, MA.

The company also contributed to the town's cultural makeup by recruiting workers from places such as Ireland, Germany, Italy, and Portugal. Revolutionary for the time, it also provided worker welfare programs, including housing, health benefits, and even full-day kindergarten. You can learn more about this forward-thinking company at the Plymouth Cordage Company Museum, a must-visit in this splendid historic town.

Plimoth Patuxet Museums

The main attraction here is the Plimoth Patuxet Museums, a living history complex with three distinct experiences: the Historic Patuxet Homesite, the 17th-Century English Village, and the Craft Center.

At the English Village, interpreters dress in authentic period clothing and portray the original 17th-century colonists. Ask them about smartphones, and they'll feign ignorance and instead talk about the daily struggles facing the real characters they represent or even share memories of the arduous sea crossing. You'll find them tending crops or animals or even in thatched-roof houses preparing traditional meals, doing chores, or demonstrating centuries-old skills.

At the Historic Patuxet Homesite, Native American interpreters will teach you about the period. In addition to sharing cultural traditions and stories, they will also demonstrate how to construct "wetus," traditional dome-shaped houses, using saplings and bark.

Mayflower II

A highlight of a visit to the Plimoth Museums is a chance to board the Mayflower II. This full-scale reproduction provides a unique understanding of just how cramped conditions were for the 102 passengers and 30 crew who endured the 66-day voyage. The replica itself was built in England in 1957 and sailed across the Atlantic just as its predecessor had done.

You'll get an up close look at the ship's "'tween decks," a roughly 50-by-25-foot space with a ceiling barely high enough for an adult to stand up in. Costumed interpreters portray actual passengers and crew members and explain how families separated their Spartan living spaces with nothing but crude cloth partitions, cooked over open fires in brick-lined boxes, and dealt with seasickness in weather known to have tossed the 180-ton vessel about like driftwood.

Above deck, one can also explore the ship's working components, including the capstan used to raise anchors, steering, and rigging.

Plymouth Rock

The Pilgrims' connection to the famed Plymouth Rock wasn't made until 1741, a full 121 years after the landing. It was then that 94-year-old Thomas Faunce identified it as the exact spot where his father, who arrived in 1623, said the Mayflower passengers first stepped ashore. Despite no contemporary accounts of the rock in William Bradford's Of Plymouth Plantation or Edward Winslow's Mourt's Relation, Plymouth Rock has nevertheless endured as a powerful symbol of America's origins.

Now protected under a temple-style structure built in 1920, the rock weighs 10 tons, a fraction of its original size after it split in two during a 1774 attempt to move it to the town square. Interestingly, the Patriots believed the accident to be a clear sign that America should separate from Britain. Just two years later, the colonies found themselves embroiled in the War of Independence.

Reunited in 1880 when "1620" was carved into its surface, the two pieces of rock now reside in Pilgrim Memorial State Park and are accessible daily from dawn to dusk at no charge.

Historic Downtown Plymouth

Downtown Plymouth radiates around the town's 1749 Courthouse, now a museum with displays of the original handwritten records of the Plymouth Colony. Spooner House, built in 1749, remains furnished with five generations of the Spooner family's belongings. Nearby Hedge House, dating to 1809, hosts rotating exhibits of historic clothing, including military uniforms.

The Jenney Interpretive Centre is another must-visit. Here you'll find a recreation of the 1636 gristmill where colonists ground corn into meal, with daily demonstrations as millers explain how water power transformed agriculture in early America. Town Brook, which powers the mill, sees a herring run each spring when thousands of river herring swim upstream to spawn.

Rising above downtown Plymouth, Burial Hill Cemetery contains graves dating to the 1620s, including that of William Bradford, who governed Plymouth Colony intermittently from 1621 until his death in 1657. Free walking tours are available most Saturdays and focus on Revolutionary connections and the cemetery's many 18th-century epitaphs.

Visit Plymouth Today

Plymouth's historic downtown stretches along Water Street, where colonial-era buildings now house boutique shops and seafood restaurants, like the famous CabbyShack, with its delicious lobster rolls, clam chowders, and awesome harbor views. August is a great time to visit for the Plymouth Waterfront Festival, which features live entertainment, arts and crafts vendors, and a classic car show along the waterfront.

Planning an extended stay? This well-preserved area of town provides plenty of accommodation options. Favorites include the colonial-themed John Carver Inn & Spa and the waterfront Hotel 1620 Plymouth Harbor, both ideal bases for exploring America's original hometown.

The Final Word

More than any other town in the United States, Plymouth holds a spot that's forever etched in the country's psyche. Established over 400 years ago, it is a place where you can walk in the footsteps of the original Pilgrims while learning about the people who settled here after their epic Atlantic crossing on the Mayflower. Older than the state itself, Plymouth, Massachusetts, remains a place of pilgrimage that every American should experience.