Much of the credit for reclaiming this area so closely associated with the lives of the Pilgrims and developing this beautiful park is due Mrs. William H. Forbes of Milton whose father, Ralph Waldo Emerson, married Miss Lidian Jackson, daughter of Charles Jackson, in the old Winslow House shown on another page. This park is reached from both Water Street and Main Street Extension.
The points of greatest historical interest are so closely related in regard to location that to attempt to prescribe a definite route would be extremely difficult.
The most important points of interest are within easy walking distance. As a suggestion, however, one might follow Water Street from Brewster Gardens north and find the historic Rock within a two minutes’ walk.
During the Tercentenary celebration many changes were made in this section. The old wharves and buildings that had characterized this spot for generations, are gone and the immediate surroundings have been converted into a state reservation. It is a ground made sacred to the memory of the Pilgrims as is evidenced by the many memorials and markers in the vicinity, gifts of the various historical societies throughout the country.
PERISTYLE OVER PLYMOUTH ROCK
PLYMOUTH ROCK
The magnificent peristyle shown here was designed by the architects McKim, Mead & White and was a gift of the National Society of the Colonial Dames of America on the 300th anniversary of the Landing of the Pilgrims.
It encloses the historic “Rock” on which the Pilgrims first set foot. The foundation wall is open on the water side allowing the free wash of the flood tides around the rock as it lies in its original bed.