Plymouth Rock

  The  story goes that when the Pilgrims stepped off the Mayflower, the land first under their feet was a rock.  This tradition is sticking around, even though we know the ship was nowhere near the shore.  Plymouth Harbor is quite shallow and the Mayflower was a good mile off.  The Pilgrims came ashore in a small lifeboat.

   The rock was identified in the early 1700s by the 95-year-old Elder Faunce, who, as a child, had known some of the original Pilgrims. The rock has been moved several times, beginning during the Revolutionary War.  It has been split apart, had chunks taken from it, and now is in protective surroundings a good way up off the shore.