Plymouth

James W. Baker

• Publisher: Arcadia Publishing
• Year: 2002
• Print ISBN: 9780738509976
• eBook ISBN: 9781439628348
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: North American History
• Index: History

In Plymouth, the reader will find the elm-shaded streets, mill villages, modest shops, and rustic cottages that generations of residents and visitors have loved. Plymouth is best known as the Pilgrim landing place, but history did not stop when the dishes were cleared away from the first Thanksgiving. Plymouth's intriguing past is not altogether lost. A prosperous fishing village before the War of 1812, Plymouth developed mills and factories to line its modest brooks during the Industrial Revolution, and elegant dwellings were built to replace humble Colonial homes. Steamboats and the railway brought waves of immigrants and summer visitors, transforming the small Yankee village into a bustling town. Later, the mills closed, tourist traffic replaced the clatter of machinery, and massive housing developments transformed the town as the kaleidoscope of history turned yet again. In Plymouth, the reader will find the elm-shaded streets, mill villages, modest shops, and rustic pond-side cottages that generations of residents and visitors have loved. The reader will see vanished landmarks, such as the Samoset House and the Mayflower Inn, the Cornish and Burton schools, and the Leyden Street Casino. From the world's largest rope manufactory (Plymouth Cordage) to Uncle George's famous woolly horse, from Water Street's ancient wharves and chandleries to the storm of 1898, and from Pres. Warren G. Harding's tercentenary visit to Richard Nixon's welcome of the Mayflower II in 1957, the best of the town's visual history is gathered in Plymouth.

Six

PLYMOUTHEANS AT HOME, AT WORK, AND AT PLAY

THE PLYMOUTH TOWN SQUARE, C. 1870. From left to right are the wooden Gothic First Parish Church (1831–1892); the Third Church (Church of the Pilgrimage, 1840); and the Town Tree (with notice board), where official announcements were posted. The Town Tree blew down and killed a woman in 1885. The old Bradford house and the post office were torn down to build the Odd Fellows hall (1877–1904).

LEFT: THE INTERIOR OF THE FIRST PARISH CHURCH BEFORE THE FIRE OF 1892. RIGHT: CLEMENT BATES (1793–1885). Clement Bates, sexton of First Parish Church from 1831 until his death, took care of the Plymouth Town House and rang the town bell at appointed times—7 a.m., 12 p.m., 1 p.m., and 6 p.m. He would ring it at 5 p.m. on Saturdays and at 9 p.m. for curfew. Bates also conducted all funerals before private undertakers became common.

LAYING THE CORNERSTONE OF THE PRESENT FIRST CHURCH (UNITARIAN-UNIVERSALIST), IN THE PLYMOUTH TOWN SQUARE, JUNE 29, 1896. The earlier wooden structure burned down in December 1892. The building on the left is the Old Chapel, which had been moved from just west of the Church of the Pilgrimage. It became part of the First Church Parish Center following the “renewal” of Church and High Streets.

A VIEW OF BURIAL HILL FROM THE STEEPLE OF THE CHURCH OF THE PILGRIMAGE, C. 1870. The wooden Gothic First Parish Church (1831–1892) is on the left. The building in the foreground was the Central School from 1756 to 1840, when the Cornish School was built on Russell Street.

THE ODD FELLOWS BUILDING FIRE ON MAIN STREET IN A VIEW LOOKING NORTHWEST, JANUARY 9, 1904. The Odd Fellows hall was built on the site of Governor Bradford’s house on the Plymouth Town Square. Public events were held upstairs in Adelphian Hall. The Governor Bradford building, which replaced the Odd Fellows building, had a drugstore on the ground floor (Cooper’s Drug, Pilgrim Drug, and CVS) for almost a century untilM&MSporting Goods moved there in 2001.

LEYDEN STREET IN A VIEW LOOKING EAST, C. 1890. This street was Plymouth’s first street, laid out in 1620. The Barnabas Hedge House is on the left. Across the street are Chandler Robbins’s parsonage (with a central door) and General Goodwin’s house (right). The street received the name Leyden Street in 1823.

THE FOOT OF LEYDEN STREET IN A VIEW LOOKING WEST FROM BARNES’ WHARF, ...

Table of contents

• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Table of Contents
• ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
• INTRODUCTION
• One - PLYMOUTH’S EARLIEST SCENES AND HISTORIC HOUSES
• Two - PLYMOUTH MILLS AND FACTORIES
• Three - PLYMOUTH COMMERCE AND TRANSPORTATION
• Four - THE TOURIST TOWN AND SUMMER VISITATION
• Five - PLYMOUTH PUBLIC BUILDINGS AND EVENTS
• Six - PLYMOUTHEANS AT HOME, AT WORK, AND AT PLAY