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Plymouth, MA

Information for Travelers

Plymouth, MA

County:

Plymouth. Plymouth is the county seat.

Population:

55,188 (US Census Bureau 2007 estimate)

Elevation:

50 feet

Year Incorporated:

1620

Public Transportation:

The Greater Attleboro Taunton Regional Transit Authority
Toll Free: 800-483-2500

Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority
Old Colony Line, a rail line to Boston's South Station
Toll Free:1-800-392-6100

Plymouth & Brockton Street Railway Company
Phone: 508-746-0378
E-mail: info@p-b.com

Established in 1888, now providing bus transportation to Boston, Cape Cod and other cities and towns in the area.

Capt. John Boats
Provides ferry service to Provincetown at the tip of Cape Cod June to Labor Day. They also offer seasonal whale watching and deep fishing tours and Plymouth Harbor cruises.

Newspaper:

Wicked Local™ Plymouth with news from the Old Colony Memorial and Plymouth Bulletin
182 Standish Ave.
Plymouth, Massachusetts 02360
Phone: 508-591-6600

Public Library:

Plymouth Public Library
132 South Street
Plymouth, MA 02360
Phone: 508-830-4250

Museum:

Pilgrim Hall
Built in 1824, it is the country's oldest continuously operating museum.
75 Court Street
Plymouth, Massachusetts 02360
Phone: 508-746-1620
E-mail: pegbaker@pilgrimhall.org

Also see:
Plimoth Plantation
137 Warren Avenue
Plymouth, MA 02360
Phone: 508-746-1622

Offers personal encounters with history based on the lives of the Wampanoag Native Americans and Colonial Plymouth in the 1600s.

Pilgrim Memorial State Park, home of Plymouth Rock

Museums, historical sites, historical houses and societies abound in Plymouth due to its significant historical nature. You may want to be sure to explore the links available here to find all there is to see, do and learn about Plymouth and its history.

Town Hall:

Town of Plymouth, Massachusetts
11 Lincoln Street
Plymouth, MA 02360
Phone: 508-747-1620

Chamber of Commerce and Visitor Information:

Plymouth Area Chamber of Commerce
10 Cordage Park Circle, Suite 231
Plymouth, Massachusetts 02360
Phone: 508-830-1620

Also see:
Plymouth County Development Council Convention & Visitors Bureau
170 Water Street, Suite 24
Plymouth, MA 02360
Phone: 508-747-0100
Toll Free: 800-231-1620

Select TV and Radio Stations:

Also see:

List of Plymouth area radio stations at radio-locator.com

List of Boston area TV stations at stationindex.com

Plymouth:
WPLM 1390 AM, News, talk and information
WPLM 99.1 FM, Adult contemporary music

Boston area:

Public Radio:

WBUR 90.9 FM
"Boston's NPR News Source"

WUMB 91.9 FM
An eclectic mix of public radio's favorite music programs

Talk Radio: WRKO 680 AM, WBZ 1030 AM

Music: WMKK 93.7 FM, "Mike FM. We play everything."

TV Stations:

2

WGBH

PBS

4

WBZ

CBS

5

WCVB

ABC

7

WHDH

NBC

Annual Events:

Annual Herring Run, mid-April to Mid-May

Downtown Plymouth Waterfront Festival, August

Plymouth Thanksgiving Parade and Celebration, weekend before Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving Week at Plimoth Plantation

Patuxet Strawberry Thanksgiving festival at Plimoth Plantation, June. This is a Native American celebration. The name comes from the name of the Native American Wampanoag village that was located in the area of Plymouth before the Pilgrims arrived.

Notable for:

Plymouth is the site of the first permanent European settlement in New England. These settlers were the Pilgrims from England that are legendary in American history.

A courthouse that was built in 1749 by the town of Plymouth is now a museum. It is notable for being the oldest wooden Court House and the longest used municipal building in America. It served as a courthouse for the county and town of Plymouth until 1820, when the new courthouse was built. The town purchased the building at that time and kept various municipal offices there until the 1950's. In 1970, it was restored and opened as a museum.

Plymouth is the largest municipality by land area in Massachusetts.

History:

Before the Pilgrims arrived, a Native American Wampanoag village by the name of Patuxet was located in the area that is now Plymouth, MA. However, in 1617, a great plague likely transmitted from European fisherman to Native Americans on the shore killed most of the local residents. This enabled the Pilgrims to occupy the land with no resistance.

The Pilgrims were a group of English separatists that came to America to practice their religion with freedom after breaking off from the Church of England. Before landing, they drew up the Mayflower Compact, thereby creating their own government. They made their historic landing in the Plymouth area on December 21, 1620.

Tradition says that the Pilgrims landed at the site of Plymouth Rock, but there is no historical evidence to prove this. They named their settlement “Plimoth” after the port city by the same name in England. The Mayflower had sailed from this port as their last stop on the way to America.

Residents of Plymouth had a difficult time during the winter of 1620 to 1621. Many that had sailed on the Mayflower died due to disease and lack of food and shelter. Wampanoag Tribe Chief Massasoit, who resided in a village in what is now Rhode Island, visited the Pilgrims in 1621 and negotiated a peace treaty with them. He also sent Tisquantum, better known as Squanto, as an ambassador and technical adviser. Squanto was originally a resident of Patuxet. He had been kidnapped and then enslaved in Europe before returning to America to find that the inhabitants of his village Patuxet had died. He taught the Pilgrims much about such things as farming and catching fish, enabling their survival for the first couple of years. He also helped Plymouth to set up trading posts. Massasoit negotiated a peace treaty with the Pilgrims. After a bountiful harvest in 1621, the Pilgrims gathered with Squanto, Massasoit and other Native Americans in a celebration of feasting. This celebration is known as the First Thanksgiving, which today is commemorated annually in downtown Plymouth with a parade and reenactment.

Plymouth served as the capital of Plymouth Colony from 1620 until 1691, when the colony was annexed by the Massachusetts Bay Colony.

In the 1800s, Plymouth was a relatively isolated seacoast town depending on fishing and shipping for its living. Before too long, it became a regional remained a relatively isolated seacoast town whose livelihood depended on fishing and shipping.[24] The town eventually became a regional shipbuilding and fishing hub. The Plymouth Cordage Company, founded in 1824, became the world's largest manufacturer of rope and cordage products. This company closed down in 1970.

During modern times, Plymouth has developed into a major economic and tourist center of the South Shore.

Click for the latest Plymouth weather forecast.


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