Newsletter Archives
Catch up on the latest in family history with these articles from GenealogyBank News
November 2013 Newsletter
- GenealogyBank Just Added 31 Million More Records!
- Massachusetts: the Cradle of the Nation
- Searching for Mayflower Passengers Named in Modern Obits
- Plymouth Rock Back Together Again
Past Issue Archive
Select the month and year below
FREE Newsletter!
Get online search tips, exclusive offers and other helpful information to aid your genealogy research.
Plymouth Rock Back Together Again
Plymouth Rock, a large boulder on the edge of Plymouth Harbor, Massachusetts, is traditionally identified as the place where the Pilgrims first stepped ashore from the Mayflower in 1620 to found Plymouth Colony.
I always assumed that the crack in Plymouth Rock was from old age.
It turns out that when it was moved in 1774, Plymouth Rock cracked and broke into two pieces. It took the help of 20 teams of oxen to move the left half of the rock to the town's meetinghouse. Then in about 1834 it was moved again and put on display in front of Pilgrim Hall. In all, the rock was on display in the town square for over 100 years.
In 1880 the left half was brought back to the beach and placed at its current location by the shore in Plymouth, "reunited with the main part of the rock."
Here is a newspaper article about when the rock was moved and broken in 1774.
Daily People (New York City, New York), 10 January 1906, page 3
I always assumed that the crack in Plymouth Rock was from old age.
It turns out that when it was moved in 1774, Plymouth Rock cracked and broke into two pieces. It took the help of 20 teams of oxen to move the left half of the rock to the town's meetinghouse. Then in about 1834 it was moved again and put on display in front of Pilgrim Hall. In all, the rock was on display in the town square for over 100 years.
In 1880 the left half was brought back to the beach and placed at its current location by the shore in Plymouth, "reunited with the main part of the rock."
Here is a newspaper article about when the rock was moved and broken in 1774.
Daily People (New York City, New York), 10 January 1906, page 3