Pilgrim Guide Book to Plymouth, Massachusetts / With a Brief Outline of the Pilgrim Migration and Settlement at Plymouth

by William Franklin Atwood

BURIAL HILL

CANNON OF THE PILGRIM ERA ON BURIAL HILL

Leaving the Monument and passing south through Allerton Street, crossing Samoset Street, and continuing straight over the hill to the Cornish and Burton Schools, we arrive at the northwest entrance to the old burial ground. Rising 165 feet above sea level this hill commands a fine view of the harbor and bay from Kingston and Duxbury on the north to the Pine Hills on the south. At the base of the hill is Town Square where in the immediate foreground rise the spires of the First Church (Unitarian) and the Church of the Pilgrimage, with Leyden Street leading to the harbor beyond.

Site of the
Watch Tower
On Burial Hill

Burial Hill, once called “Fort Hill,” is one of the most historic and beautiful spots in Pilgrim Plymouth. There are convenient seats under the shady trees where one can rest and look out over Plymouth Harbor and Cape Cod Bay. Here on the “Hill” are the graves of the early colonists, the site of the Watch Tower, the Replica of the Powder House, the site of the “Fort.” People come here from all over the world to search for the graves of their ancestors. The guide map, giving location of all the graves, which is included in the Pilgrim Book of Burial Hill and Its Epitaphs, is invaluable to those who wish to get the most out of their visit to Pilgrim Plymouth. In leaving Burial Hill by the Town Square entrance, note the view down Leyden Street, first street in New England, and remember that down this same path once walked the Pilgrims of Plymouth.

PLYMOUTH HARBOR AND CHURCH OF THE PILGRIMAGE

From Burial Hill, where the early graves are located and where the Fort and Watch Tower and Powder House were built by the Pilgrims

From this vantage, and before the day of steam trawlers, Plymouthians have viewed the fleet of white-winged mackerel vessels as they sailed to and fro within easy vision against a background of blue sea.

On clear days the sand dunes of Cape Cod as well as Provincetown may be seen.

It was on this hill that the Pilgrims built their fort in 1622 and a watch tower in 1643 and another and larger fort during the King Philip War in 1675 as a defence against Indian attack.

There is no record of its first use as a burial ground. There are six stones bearing dates of the 17th century, the oldest that of Edward Grey (1681). It is known that William Bradford died in 1657 and a monument erected in 1825 bears evidence to that fact. Also that John Howland died in 1672 and his present stone was erected (circa) 1850. It is presumable that there were many burials here prior to these dates, although the first burials were on Cole’s Hill just above the shore.