Descending the hill to the harbor front at our right a short distance we see a beautiful and artistic structure of granite in the shape of a canopy, supported on four columns, and under this is the Rock, now world-famous. (At this writing in 1919, the comprehensive plans of the Tercentenary Commission contemplate displacing commercial structures and improving the harbor front in the vicinage of the Rock.) The upper portion of the renowned boulder, nearly all of that which is now in sight, was for one hundred and six years separated from the original Rock, and during this long period occupied localities remote from the Landing-place. In 1774, during the series of events leading to the Revolution, an attempt to raise the Rock for transportation to Town Square disclosed the fact that the upper portion had become separated from the lower, probably through action of frost. It was taken to the Square where it was deposited at the foot of a liberty pole from which waved a flag bearing the motto, “Liberty or death.”

It remained there until 1834, when at a celebration of the Fourth of July it was carried in procession to Pilgrim Hall, deposited in the front area, and inclosed by an iron fence. Here the separated part of the Rock remained forty-six years, its incongruous position away from the water not being understood by visitors without lengthy explanation. Mr. Stickney, the gentleman by whose liberality the alterations in Pilgrim Hall were being made in the summer of 1880, recognized the impropriety of this condition, and proposed reuniting the parts at the original Landing-place. The Pilgrim Society readily acceded to this proposition, and accordingly on Monday, Sept. 27, 1880, without ceremony, this part of the Rock was placed beneath the Monumental Canopy at the waterside, the reunited pieces, after a separation of one hundred and six years, probably now presenting much the same appearance as when the Pilgrim shallop grazed its side. As to the identity of this Rock, and the certainty of its being the very one consecrated by the first touch of Pilgrim feet on this shore, there is not the slightest loophole for a doubt. Ancient records, now accessible, refer to it as an object of prominence on the shore, before the building of the wharf about it in the year 1741. Thomas Faunce, the elder of the church, who was born in 1647 and died in 1746, at the age of 99, was the son of John Faunce, who came over in the “Ann” in 1623. At the age of ninety-five years hearing that the Rock, which from youth he had venerated was to be disturbed, he visited the locality, related the history of the Rock as told him by his father and contemporary Pilgrims, and in the presence of many witnesses declared it to be that upon which the Forefathers landed in 1620. Thus it has been pointed out and identified from one generation to another, and from the days of the first comers to the present time. Not a shadow of distrust rests upon it as being the identical spot where the first landing was effected on the shore of Plymouth.

About a century and three-fourths have elapsed since Elder Faunce gave his personal testimony, and the lives of two or three elderly people cover that period, so the evidence is of positive rather than traditional character.

The Rock was originally a solid boulder of about seven tons, and undoubtedly a glacial deposit. It is greenish syenite, very hard, and bears high polish when its fragments are worked for various purposes.

The Landing

Let us picture to ourselves the scene on that Monday morning, when, after the rest on Clark’s Island they came in their shallop to inspect the new country that they had providentially found. The wharves and buildings and every trace of civilization vanish. All is wild and unknown. Across the harbor comes the boat and every eye anxiously and keenly scanning the strange shore to discover the presence of human beings, who will be sure to be enemies. They coast along the shore by cliff and lowland, hand on weapon, every sense alert for the expected warwhoop and attack, a steep and sandy cliff, (Cole’s Hill) the base of which is washed by the water meets their eyes; at its foot a great boulder, brought from some far-away coast by a glacier, in some long-gone age. Oval in form, with a flat top, it seems the very place to bring the great clumsy boat up to, as from its crest they can spring to the shore, dry-shod, a matter which, after their previous wading in the ice-cold water at the Cape, is of no small moment. The shallop is steered to its side; the company steps upon the Rock, and the Landing of the Forefathers, now so reverently commemorated, is completed. Look along the shore at this day, north or south, and you may see cliffs as Cole’s Hill was then, with the mouth of Town Brook near by the Rock, which later made a safe little harbor for their boats in the rear of the dwellings which they erected on the south side of Leyden Street. Divested of romance thrown around it by time, it should be remembered that the “Landing,” Dec. 21, 1620, was that of the exploring party which had coasted around the bay, the “Mayflower” then being in Cape Cod Harbor.

This party was made up of “ten of their principal men,” according to Bradford, whose names, as given in “Mourt’s Relation,” were Captain Standish, Governor Carver, William Bradford, Edward Winslow, John Tilley, Edward Tilley, John Howland, from Leyden; with Richard Warren, Stephen Hopkins and Edward Dotey from London, and also two of the Pilgrim’s seamen, John Allerton and Thomas English. In addition to these, Captain Jones of the “Mayflower” sent three of his seamen, with his two mates and pilots named Clarke and Coppin. The master gunner of the ship by importunity also got leave to accompany them. Thus the shallop contained eighteen men, twelve of the “Mayflower” company and six of Jones’ men.

According to “Mourt’s Relation,” the exploring party, having landed from the Rock, “marched also into the land and found divers cornfields and little running brooks, a place very good for situation. So we returned to our Ship again with good news to the rest of the people, which did much comfort their hearts.”

The “Mayflower” weighs her anchor, Dec. 26, 1620, and spreading sail moves across the bay. Feeling carefully their way, they pass the Gurnet and navigate along the channel inside the beach, until in the wide bend towards the town just above the present Beach wharf, as is believed by those who have studied the situation, the anchor is dropped, not to be again disturbed until the following spring. But the location is not yet settled. Some, with the alarm of the recent encounters vividly impressed upon them, think the Island, surrounded by water and easily defended, would be a good place. Jones river, sending its unimpeded waters to meet the waves of the bay, attracts the attention of others. “So in the morning, after we had called on God for direction, we came to this resolution, to go presently ashore again, and to take a better view of two places which we thought most fitting for us; for we could not now take time for further search or consideration, our vituals being much spent, especially our beer, and it being now the 19th of December (old style). After our landing and visiting the places, so well as we could, we came to a conclusion, by most voices, to set on a high ground, where there is a great deal of land cleared, and hath been planted with corn three or four years ago; and there is a very sweet brook runs under the hillside, and many delicate springs of as good water as can be drunk, and where we may harbor our shallops and boats exceedingly well; and in this brook fish in their season; on the further side of the river also much corn ground cleared. In one field is a great hill on which we point to make a platform, and plant our ordance, which will command all around about. From thence we may see into the bay, and far into the sea; and we may see thence Cape Cod. Our greatest labor will be the fetching of our wood, which is half a quarter of an English mile; but there is enough so far off. What people inhabit here we yet know not, for as yet we have seen none. So there we made our rendezvous, and a place for some of our people, about twenty, resolving in the morning to come all ashore and to build houses.”

Cole’s Hill

Ascending the broad flight of steps leading to the brow of the hill, and turning to the left, we tread upon sacred, hallowed ground. Here were buried, in that dark, sad winter in which they landed, half of their little band. The terrible tale is told concisely by the narrator already quoted. “This month (March) thirteen of our number die. And in three months past dies half our company—the greatest part in the depth of winter, wanting houses and other comforts, being afflicted with the scurvy and other diseases which their long voyage and unaccommodate condition brought upon them, so as there die sometimes two or three a day. Of a hundred persons scarce fifty remaining; the living scarce able to bury the dead; the well not sufficient to tend the sick, there being in their time of greatest distress, but six or seven, who spare no pains to help them.” They buried them on this hill, and levelled the graves, and in the spring following planted grain above them, that the Indians might not know the extent of their great loss.

At four different times the remains have been discovered. In 1735, in a great rain, the water, rushing down Middle Street to the harbor, caused a deep gully there, exposing human remains and washing them into the sea. In 1855, workmen engaged in digging trenches for the water works found parts of five skeletons. The graves were in the roadway, about five rods south of the foot of Middle Street. One of the skulls was sent to a competent anatomist in Boston, and was pronounced to be of the Caucasian race. The remains were carefully gathered and placed in a metallic box, properly inscribed, and interred on Burial Hill, subsequently being deposited in the chamber of the canopy over the Rock, at its completion in the year 1867. Again, on the 8th of October, 1883, during grading on the hill, other remains were found which were carefully removed, and afterwards, on the 20th of November, enclosed in a lead box and re-interred on the precise spot of their original burial. Directly over the grave a granite slab has been placed by order of the town, bearing an appropriate inscription. On the 27th of November, 1883, others still were found which lie undisturbed near the last, and their exact resting-place is designated on the memorial slab above mentioned. Cole’s Hill has other histories, also. From the first days its position above and commanding the harbor led to its being selected as a place of defence. In 1742 the General Court granted a sum of money to the town to erect a battery here. In 1775, the old defence having gone to decay, a new one was built and manned, and continued to be kept up during the war. In 1814 still another fort was thrown up here, and placed in charge of companies of soldiers stationed in the town. In 1915-16 the brow of the hill southeast of Middle Street was filled off, continuing the esplanade from North to Leyden Street, much improving former conditions. (Extensive changes are about to be made on the level of the hill, and the Pilgrim graves recovered from the highway and properly marked.)

Leyden Street

(Originally named First Street, afterwards in the Records called Great and Broad Street; named Leyden Street in 1823.)

Walking around the brow of the hill through Carver Street, we pass the handsome vestry of the Baptist church, built in 1915, and next the Universalist church, erected in 1826 on the spot where stood the ancient Allyne House, one of the last of its architecture to disappear in the colony. Standing on this elevation, we can see the reason for the selection of this place for the settlement. There below us, are the waters of “the very sweet brook,” into which the “many delicate springs” still continue to run. How sweet they must have tasted to the palates of those poor stormtossed wayfarers, who for months had been drinking the ship’s stale water! Sweet and pure they are now as they were then. Then the brook came to the sea in its natural wildness, unfettered by bridge or dam. Where it met the waters of the ocean was quite a wide estuary, so that before the lower bridge was built schooners of considerable size were wintered here nearly up to the second bridge. Beyond it is the land where there was “much corn land cleared.” Just below the junction of Carver and Leyden streets they built their first building, a “common house.” In 1801, in digging a cellar at that place, several tools and a plate of iron were found, which without doubt were in this “common house.” This house was about twenty feet square, and thatched. It took fire in the roof Jan. 14, 1621, and the thatch was burnt. It was a common log house, such as built now by Western pioneers, and probably was not used many years. These articles found were probably left in it unnoticed when vacated and only came to light when the little colony to whom they were so useful had expanded into a great nation. A sign and bronze tablet now mark this spot.

“Mourt’s Relation” furnishes us an interesting record:—

“Thursday, the 28th (old style) of December, so many as could went to work on the hill, where we proposed to build our platform for our ordnance, and which doth command all the plain and the bay, and from whence we may see far into the sea, and might be easier impaled, having two rows of houses and a fair street. So in the afternoon we went to measure out the grounds; and first we took notice how many families there were, willing all single men that had no wives to join with some family, as they thought fit, so that we might build fewer houses; which done, and we reduced them to nineteen families.

“To greater families we alloted larger plots; to every person half a pole in breadth and three in length, and so lots were cast where every man should lie; which was done and staked out,” and this was laying out of Leyden Street, so named in 1823. An unfinished plan of this street is to be seen on the old records of the Colony, at the Registry of Deeds. The full plot of the little settlement was about as shown in the annexed line drawing.

Continuing up Leyden street to Main street, we pass on our left the U. S. Government post office and custom house building, a handsome Colonial edifice completed in 1915. This site is peculiarly and historically appropriate for the Federal building, as it is the lot assigned to William Brewster, Dec. 28, 1620, (old style), in the laying out just described. He was the elder or spiritual teacher of the Pilgrims, so on his homestead where he taught religious liberty which distinguishes our country, the Nation places its representative cornerstone—a most happy coincidence of the marking of Colonial and National beginnings. The public fountain at the corner gives invitation to “freely drink and quench your thirst” from the Pilgrim Spring on the Brewster meerstead, the water of which is sent by electric power from the cool, copiously gushing source near the bank of Town Brook, 200 feet away.

Plymouth in 1627

In 1627, Isaac DeRaiseres, an officer from the Dutch Colony of New Netherland, now New York, visited Plymouth, and in a letter to Holland sends the following description of appearance of the place:—

“New Plymouth lies on the slope of a hill stretching east toward the sea coast, with a broad street about a cannon shot of eight hundred (yards) long, leading down the hill, with a (street) crossing in the middle northwards to the rivulet and southwards to the land.[1] The houses are constructed of hewn planks, with gardens also enclosed behind and at the sides with hewn planks, so that their houses and court-yards are arranged in very good order, with a stockade against a sudden attack; and at the ends of the street are three wooden gates. In the centre, on the cross street, stands the Governor’s house, before which is a square enclosure, upon which four patereros (steen-stucken) are mounted, so as to flank along the streets. Upon the hill they have a large square house, with a flat roof, made of thick sawn planks, stayed with oak beams, upon the top of which they have six cannons, which shoot iron balls of four and five pounds, and command the surrounding country.”

Town Square

Above Main and Market streets we enter Town Square, shaded by its noble elms, planted in 1784. On the corner of Main Street, a large building was built in 1875 by Mayflower Lodge I. O. O. F., covering the spot on which stood the house of William Bradford, so many years, the Pilgrim governor. It was burned January 10, 1904, and the “Governor Bradford Building,” a handsome brick structure with stores and offices took its place. A bronze tablet calls attention to the locality.

Above this is the Congregational Church, known as the “Church of the Pilgrimage.”

The present building was erected in 1840, and stands very near the site of the First Meeting-house in Plymouth, built in 1638. A tablet on the front of the church bears the following inscription:—

This tablet is inscribed in grateful memory of the Pilgrims and of their successors who, at the time of the Unitarian controversy in 1801, adhered to the belief of the Fathers, and on the basis of the original creed and covenant perpetuated, at great sacrifice, in the Church of the Pilgrimage, the evangelical faith and fellowship of the Church of Scrooby, Leyden, and the “Mayflower,” organized in England in 1606.

Opposite is an old building, now the Town House, on which is a historical bronze tablet. It was built in 1749 as a court house, the town contributing a part of the cost for the privilege of using it. When the new court house was built, in 1820, this old colonial building was purchased by the town and in it most of the town officers are located, also public sanitary conveniences. At the head of the square is the First Parish Church, the original church of the Pilgrims.

The first “Meeting-house,” as the Pilgrims called church edifices, to distinguish them from houses of worship of the established church, has been proved, by the investigations of Mr. W. T. Davis, to have stood on the north side of the square, near the spot occupied by the present Governor Bradford building. Of this we know but little, except that it was erected in 1638, (the Forefathers before that time worshipping in the fort on the hill), and had a bell. In 1683 a new building was erected, not on the same lot, but farther out at the head of the square. This was forty-five by forty feet, sixteen feet in the walls, had a Gothic roof, diamond window glass and a bell.

In 1744, still another church was built on or near the same site. This remained until 1830, when a Gothic edifice was erected. This stood farther up the hill than the previous one, and was destroyed by fire Nov. 22, 1892. The present stone building was completed and dedicated on December 21, 1899, and has on its front, tablets designating it as the first church. Its entrance portal is a fine reproduction of the arched doorway of the old church at Austerfield, England, in which Gov. Bradford was christened.

Burial Hill

Beyond and above Town Square stretches the verdant slope consecrated from the earliest years of the colony as a place of sepulture. Here repose the ashes of those who survived the first winter. “In one field a great hill, on which we point to make a platform and plant our ordnance, which will command all round about. From thence we may see into the bay and far into the sea.” Marble tablets mark the location of the Old Fort and Watch Tower, while numerous stones and monuments, which can easily be deciphered, point out resting places of Pilgrims and descendants.

The marble obelisk in memory of Gov. William Bradford, the second governor, with its Hebrew text, now difficult to decipher, but translated by good authority to read: “Let the right hand of the Lord awake,” together with a Latin inscription, freely rendered: “Do not basely relinquish what the Fathers with difficulty attained,” erected in 1825, is near to us, and around it are numerous stones, marking the graves of his descendants. On the south side of the Governor’s obelisk is inscribed:

H I William Bradford of Austerfield Yorkshire England. Was the son of William and Alice Bradford, He was Governor of Plymouth Colony from 1621 to 1633 1635 1637 1639 to 1643 1645 to 1657

On the north side:

Under this stone rest the ashes of William Bradford a zealous Puritan & sincere Christian Gov. of Ply. Col. from 1621 to 1657, (the year he died) aged 69, except 5 yrs, which he declined.

A little back, on a path to the rear entrance to the hill is the oldest stone in the cemetery. It must be remembered that for many years the colonists had far other cares, and many other uses for their little savings, than to provide stones to mark their graves. These had to be imported from England at much cost, and consequently it was some years before any were able to afford the expense. The oldest stone is that to the memory of Edward Gray, 1681. Mr. Gray was a merchant, and one of the wealthiest men in the colony. Near the head of this path is a stone to William Crowe, 1683-84. Near by is one to Thomas Clark, 1697, erroneously reputed to have been the mate of the “Mayflower,” but who came in the “Ann,” in 1623. Clark’s Island received its name from John Clark, now known to have been the mate of the “Mayflower.” Beside the grave of Thomas Clark is that of his son, Nathaniel, who was one of the councillors of Sir Edward Andros, Governor of New England. Other old stones are those of Mrs. Hannah Clark, 1697; and John Cotton, 1699. These are all the original stones bearing dates in the seventeenth century. There are some with dates of that century which have been erected since, by descendants, including the monument to Governor Bradford, before alluded to: the fine granite shaft to Robert Cushman; and the stone over the remains of John Howland. The inscription on the latter stone reads as follows:—

Here ended the Pilgrimage of JOHN HOWLAND who died February 23, 167 2-3, aged above 80 years. He married Elizabeth daughter of JOHN TILLEY who came with him in the Mayflower Dec. 1620. From them are descended a numerous posterity.

“Hee was a godly man and an ancient professor in the wayes of Christ. Hee was one of the first comers into this land and was the last man that was left of those that came over in the Shipp called the Mayflower that lived in Plymouth.”—(Plymouth Records.)

Near the Bradford monument are the graves of his family. The face of the stone at the grave of his son, Major William Bradford, shelled off in 1876-77, but the inscription has since been retraced. The cut following is reproduced from a view taken of the original, and is an exact facsimile—

Here lyes ye body of ye honourable Major William Bradford, who expired Feb’ ye 20th, 1703-4, aged 79 years.

He lived long, but still was doing good,

And in his country’s service lost much blood,

And a life well spent, he’s now at rest,

His very name and memory is blest.

At the grave of another son the headstone reads as follows:

Here lyes interred ye body of Mr. Joseph Bradford, son of the late Honorable William Bradford, Esq., Governor of Plymouth, Colony, who departed this life July the 10th, 1715 in the eighty-fifth year of his age.

The following are some of the inscriptions of the older stones:

Here lyes ye body of Mrs. Hannah Sturtevant, aged about sixty-four years. Dec. in March, 1708-9.

Here lyes buried the body of Mr. Thomas Faunce, ruling elder of the First Church of Christ in Plymouth. Deceased Feb’y, 27, 1745, in the ninety-ninth year of his age.

The fathers—where are they?

Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord.

(Elder Faunce was the last who held the office of ruling elder in the church. He was contemporary with many of the first comers, and from him comes much of the information we possess about the localities now venerated.)

The epitaphs in old graveyards possess much interest to the lovers of the quaint and curious, and this first cemetery of New England is not without its attraction of that kind. The following are some of the most interesting:—

This stone is erected to the memory of that unbiased judge, faithful officer, sincere friend, and honest man, Col. Isaac Lothrop who resigned his life on the 26th day of April, 1750, in the forty-third year of his age.

Had Virtue’s charms the power to save

Its faithful votaries from the grave,

This stone had ne’er possessed the fame

Of being marked with Lothrop’s name.

A row of stones on the top of the hill, near the marble tablet marking the locality of the Watch Tower, is raised to the memory of the ministers of the First Parish. Back of these is the Judson lot, where the sculptor’s chisel has perpetuated the remembrance of Rev. Adoniram Judson, the celebrated missionary to Burmah, whose body was committed to the keeping of Old Ocean. On the westerly side of the hill is a monument erected by Stephen Gale of Portland, Me:—

To the memory of seventy-two seamen, who perished in Plymouth Harbor, on the 26th and 27th days of December, 1778, on board the private armed brig, General Arnold, of twenty guns, James Magee, of Boston, Commander; sixty of whom were buried in this spot.

About midway on the easterly slope a little to the north of the main path up the hill, on the stone to a child aged one month:—

On a stone a little farther north, to the memory of four children, aged respectively thirty-six, twenty-one, seventeen and two years:—

On the path towards the schoolhouse on a stone to a woman with an infant child by her side:—

Near the entrance to this path is the grave of a Revolutionary soldier, Capt. Jacob Taylor, died 1788:—

On this path is the grave of Joseph Bartlett, who died in 1703:—

Near the same place is a curious stone, to the memory of John Cotton:—

Here lyes interred three children, viz., three sons of Rev. Mr. John
Cotton, who died in the work of the gospel ministry at
Charlestown, South Carolina, Sept.
ye 18th, 1869, where he had great success, and seven sons of
Josiah Cotton, Esq., who died in their infancy.

On the southerly slope of the hill, near a pine grove, is a stone to a child:—

The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge.

On the stone to the memory of Thomas Jackson, died in 1794:—

In a long lot enclosed with an iron fence:—

F. W. Jackson. obit M. C. H. 23, 1797, 1 yr. 7 dys,

Heav’n knows what man

He might have made. But we

He died a most rare boy.

A little farther on in this path is the stone to Tabitha Plasket, 1807, the epitaphs, on which, written supposedly by herself, breaths such a spirit of defiance that it attracts much attention:—

Mrs. Plasket, in her widowhood, taught a private school for small children, at the same time, as was the custom of her day, doing her spinning. Her mode of punishment was to pass skeins of yarn under the arms of the little culprits, and hang them upon pegs. A suspended row was a ludicrous sight.

Mr. Joseph Plasket (husband of Tabitha) died in 1794, at the age of forty-eight years. The widow wrote his epitaph as follows:—

Nearly opposite this is one on a very young child:—

As this path comes out on the brow of the hill, near a white fence, is a stone to Elizabeth Savery, 1831:—

On the path by the fence in the rear of the hill:—

On a stone raised to the memory of a child:—

A little from the path up Burial Hill to the left, just below the tall Cushman monument, a marble tablet designates the spot where the fort of the little colony was situated, quite a portion of its outline still being distinct, particularly at the easterly corner. We can see at once with what sagacity the site was chosen, undoubtedly by Standish. It commanded Leyden Street, and the approaches from the brook over which the Indians came.

Standing here, we have a view of the southern part of the town. The blue heights of Manomet Hills shut in the horizon. Beyond them lies the little hamlet of South Plymouth, a rural village with summer hotels, the Ardmore Inn and Idlewild hotels of considerable celebrity, especially among sportsmen, to which the very spacious and beautiful Mayflower Inn has been added in 1917. On this side is the village of Chiltonville, with its churches and factories. Far down to the shore, near the head of the Beach, is the Hotel Pilgrim. Just south of the hotel are the beautiful level lawns and attractive cozy club-house of the Plymouth Country Club, the golf links being situated on the opposite side of Warren avenue, running over high, clear, breezy fields and commanding a splendid view of ocean and of land. Near lies the southerly portion of the main part of the town, divided by the brook. Across the stream, or pond, just beyond Main Street extension with its bridge built in 1907-8, is the public common, laid out very early as a “Training Green,” the name it bears today. It is an attractive square surrounded with large elm trees, and in its centre stands the monument erected in 1869 to the memory of the Soldiers and Sailors of Plymouth, who gave their lives for the country in the Civil War. Before the Pilgrims came the Green was an Indian cornfield.

Watson’s Hill

Above the Green is Watson’s Hill, now covered with houses. This was the “Cantauganteest” of the Indians, one of their favorite resorts where they had their summer camps, and on the level below planted their corn. It is famous as the opening scene of the treaty with Massasoit, made April 1, 1621. Gov. Bradford had a tract of land assigned him here on which to raise corn, and to this day portions of the hill remain in the Bradford name and others of direct descent from him.

The Watch Tower

A little to the north of the site of the old fort another tablet marks the place of the brick watch tower erected in 1643. The locality of this tower is indicated by four stone posts set in the ground to mark its corners. The brick foundations are still there, about a foot below the surface, and the old hearthstone on which the Pilgrims built their watch fires still lies where they placed it, on the southerly side of the enclosure. The location of the tower was discovered many years ago in digging a grave, when the sexton came upon the foundation. The town records of Sept. 23, 1643, have the following entry in regard to it: “It is agreed upon the whole that there shall be a watch house forthwith, built of brick, and that Mr. Grimes will sell us the brick at eleven shillings a thousand.”

This is the first mention of brick in the records of the colony, and it is to be presumed that this marks about the time of the first brickyards. The cause of the tower being built was probably the threatenings of the Indians, which resulted in the Narragansett war.

Still later, in 1676, another fortification was erected on the hill, presumably covering the same area, enclosing a hundred feet square, “with palisadoes ten and one half feet high, and three pieces of ordnance planted on it.” The town agreed with Nathaniel Southworth to build a watch house, “which is to be sixteen feet in length, twelve feet in breadth, and eight feet stud, to be walled with boards, and to have two floors, the upper floor to be six feet above the tower, to batten the walls and make a small pair of stairs in it, the roof to be covered with shingles, and a chimney to be built in it. For the said work he is to have eight pounds, either in money or other pay equivalent.” This being only thirty-two years after the building of the brick tower, it would seem as if the latter could hardly have fallen or been taken down, and it is possible if not probable, that the wooden watch tower was built upon the old brick one; but of this we can only conjecture. This was in the period of King Philip’s war in 1675. From here might have been seen the blaze of the houses of Eel River (now Chiltonville), and the terrible warwhoop almost heard as the savages burst upon the little hamlet near Bramhall’s corner on that peaceful Sabbath in March, 1676, when they left eleven dead bodies of women and children and smoking ruins to mark their savage onslaught.

The Harbor

We have, from the easterly brow of Burial Hill, a beautiful picture of the harbor and its surroundings. Below us the ground slopes to the water, cut into terrace below terrace, with the buildings upon them. At its foot are the wharves and harbor, and below it the Beach near which the “Mayflower” swung at her anchors. Manomet is the range of misty blue hills stretching into the bay on the right. Kingston and Duxbury, with Captain’s Hill are on the left, and far out Clark’s Island, Saquish, and the Gurnet, with the thin, sandy strip of beach joining the latter headlands. On the Gurnet is Fort Andrew, and at Saquish is Fort Standish, both earthworks, built by the Government during the Civil war of 1861-65, but now dismantled and unused. These sites are the property of the United States. The Gurnet, it is said, takes its name from a somewhat similar promontory in the English channel, near Plymouth, England. On it are located a United States life-saving station, twin lighthouses and a Dabol trumpet fog signal. A whistling buoy at the entrance of the harbor, opposite the Gurnet, gives warning in thick weather, of the dangerous Brown’s Island shoal. Saquish is an Indian word signifying an abundance of clams. Clark’s Island was named from the mate of the “Mayflower,” who commanded the shallop on the expedition when the island was discovered.

The following statistics were furnished by Capt. A. M. Harrison from the United States Survey of 1853-57: From the shore end of Long Wharf, in a straight line, to Gurnet Light, the distance is four and seven-sixteenths statute miles, or, three and seven-eighths nautical miles. The length of Plymouth Beach, from the foot of Manomet Hills to the beacon on extreme point, is three and five-sixteenths statute miles, or two and seven-eights nautical miles. The length of the Beach from its junction with the mainland to the beacon, is two and five-eighths statute miles, or two and one-fourth nautical miles.

Voyage of the Mayflower Shallop