Burial Hill Cemetery, Mayflower II and the Plymouth waterfront

After leaving Plimouth Plantation Susie and drove north to Plymouth proper. We parked at Burial Hill Cemetery in Plymouth and walked to the top of the Hill to listen to a 1pm presentation on ground-penetrating radar sponsored by the Friends of Burial Hill. It was a gorgeous day to be standing on an incredible overlook to Plymouth Bay.

And, as always this cemetery presents wonderful opportunities for photography.

Ansel and Martha Holmes, both age 90 when they died

Charlott Barnes (nope, no "e" in Charlott), died Feb. 22, 1833

probable site of the first fort c. 1620-21

Madam Jane Robbins, died Sept. 12, 1800,
wife of Rev. Chandler

Rev. Chandler Robbins, died June 30, 1799

the Judson family

The presentation by Craig Chartier of Plymouth Archaeological Rediscovery Project was fascinating and illuminating but sadly we had to leave early so we could grab a bite of lunch before the day got away from us.

So, from Burial Hill Cemetery we walked downhill to Main Street in search of a place for lunch. While there were a number of places with cute names like Sam Diego (Mexican) or Tuscany Tavern (really?) we settled on the very unassuming Cornerstone Cafe.

Located at the corner of North and Main streets, the Cornerstone is small on space but large on friendly service and tasty food.

After leaving the cornerstone we strolled down North Street to the waterfront. Five minutes later we soon found ourselves aboard the Mayflower II (it was part of the combination ticket with Plimouth Plantation).

We’re all familiar with the pilgrim landing at Plymouth Rock in 1620 but to actually see and walk on board the (replica) of this tiny ship is truly an eye-opening experience. One hundred and two people along with numerous animals, stores, tools, and the various necessities of starting a new life in a new corner of the planet aboard this ship for 66 days must have been both wretched and exciting all wrapped into one complicated package.

This reproduction vessel, built in England sailed to the United States in 1957. It took very little time to see but I'm glad we did. It will help put into proper perspective those times when the iPhone battery dies or the laptop won’t respond.

Oh, and there were also role players aboard -- mainly on the lower deck where the passengers lived, as well as contemporary guides to answer those questions "out of character."

the fore part of the ship

Above you can easily see the rudder mechanism going out the stern of the ship note the cannon on the lower right.

looking forward

From the Mayflower we strolled along the waterfront to the Rock itself and from there back up hill toward Main street.

Along the way we passed a small plaque on the sidewalk honoring the location of what was claimed to have been the first home of Mayflower passenger John Howland.

From Main Street we climbed back to Burial Hill, found our car and headed home.

Plymouth: First Fort, Pilgrim deaths, and John Alden Lived Here

Shortly after the pilgrims settled in what is now Plymouth, they established their first fort fort on a nearby hill. This site would eventually become, as one can see today, the first dedicated cemetery for the early settlers of Plymouth Bay Colony. It is here that Pilgrim leader William Bradford is buried along with revolutionary patriot James Warren and numerous other early notable men and women  of the colony. For the epitaph collector, it's another wonderful place to read those snippets of people's lives that are often carved into stone and slate. (For more of that sort of thing, visit my cemeteries blog.)

Here on Cole's Hill is the very first burying place in Plymouth and the sarcophagus marks the spot those first settlers died from disease and malnutrition in that first brutal winter of 1620-21. Of the original 102 settlers, 45 died that winter; of 18 adult women, 13 died and only four remained alive by Thanksgiving of 1621. This New World must have seemed more terrible than the Old One.

"This monument marks the first burying ground

in Plymouth of the passengers of the Mayflower

Here under over of darkness the fast dwindling company

laid their dead leveling the earth above them lest the

Indians should learn how many were the graves.

Reader! History records no nobler venture for faith and

freedom than that of this pilgrim band. In wellness

and painfulness, in watchings often in hunger and cold

they laid the foundations of a state wherein every man

through countless ages should have liberty to worship

God in his own way. May their example inspire thee to do

thy part in perpetuating and spreading the lofty ideals

of our republic throughout the world!"

The site of John Alden's house at the foot of Burial Hill, overlooking the town of Plymouth. John had been hired as a carpenter and cooper before the Mayflower left Southampton. Although not a pilgrim himself, John Alden was one of the founders of the colony and the seventh signer of the Mayflower Compact. He was also reportedly the first to set foot on Plymouth. He eventually settled in Duxbury, MA with his wife, Priscilla Mullins. Both are buried in Myles Standish Burial Ground in Duxbury.