Plymouth Rock

Plymouth Rock is located in Plymouth Harbor in Pilgrim Memorial State Park.  40 miles south of Boston, it marks the spot where, according to legend, the Pilgrims who came from England in the Mayflower landed in 1620.  However, since the Pilgrims’ own records do not mention landing at any specific rock, and since the first claims of disembarking onto the rock were made over a hundred years later, it is unclear if the celebrated event actually happened.  Nevertheless, Plymouth Rock remains a potent symbol of the journey of the early colonists. The rock itself has seen some abuse throughout the years, being accidentally split in half in 1774 when the people of Plymouth moved it inland for an extended period of time, and having fragments chipped away by souvenir hunters throughout the 18th and 19th centuries.  Since 1921, Plymouth Rock has been protected at its site at sea level by a neoclassical portico designed by the esteemed architecture firm McKim, Mead and White.

• Look at the Mayflower II replica ship that is moored inside the habor
• Explore the Forefather's Monument, the large 81-foot granite monument dedicated to the spot