Each year, nearly half a million modern-day pilgrims come from all over the world to step almost four centuries back in time and become part of living history at Plimoth Plantation. Through its primary living history exhibits, the 1627 English Village and the Wampanoag Homesite, Plimoth Plantation seeks to re-create the people, time and place of 17th-century Plymouth. Specially trained staff members, painstaking research, period costumes and dialect, authentically reproduced buildings and artifacts are some of the vital components of this unique experience. On the third of the museum's main sites, Mayflower II (a full-scale reproduction of a 17th-century vessel), visitors learn about the Pilgrims' 1620 ocean crossing, as well as about construction techniques of both a 17th-century ship and its 21st-century counterpart.

Plimouth Plantation is primarily about the Wampanoag Homesite, the 1627 English Village, and the Mayflower II, a recreation of the original vessel. However, its Crafts Center is where artisans demonstrate how the colonists made and used goods that were either brought with them or imported from Europe. At different times visitors can see the artisans use 17th-century techniques to create baskets made with willow imported from England, furniture made and carved for use in Village houses, and earthenware pottery, from the common three-handled cup to an oil lamp or a colander. The Visitor Center is also a great place for young children to experience hands-on displays and for one and all to view displays about the region's natural environment.

Wampanoag Homesite

 

Here visitors may speak with native interpreters in period dress as well as uniformed staff. While staff do not role play—they explain Wampanoag history from a modern perspective—the outdoor site depicts Native American life in the 17th-century. On display are wetuash (houses), including the puttakaukan (round house), and the neesquttow (house of two fires). These homes are beside gardens that reveal the traditional method of planting corn, beans, and squash in mounds. Interpreters carry on many activities of daily life, including house construction, making a mishoon (dugout canoe), cooking a meal of bluefish, duck or sobaheg (stew) over the fire, and tending and weeding the garden. Staff also utilize 17th-century technology and materials to re-create baskets, pottery, wooden bowls, stone tools and many other items.

 

1627 English Village

 

Each day in the English Village corresponds to a day in the year 1627. The colonists speak in 17th-century dialects, and discuss with their visitors all manner of topics that were relevant in 1627. They talk about their daily activities, and explain such things as what a pottage is, or how a duck or bluefish is cooked on the hearth. They also show visitors how cows and goats are milked, or how wattle and daub are applied to a house under construction. Depending on the season, one can see a garden planted, cornfields hoed, or the harvest brought in and stored. A householder might even take a few moments to talk about issues of land ownership, payment of debt, or even the colony's latest gossip. Each day in the Village is different and exciting and each colonist is an individual whose conversation is both intriguing and entertaining.

 

Mayflower II

 

This is a reproduction of the ship that brought the Pilgrims to New England. Prior to boarding the ship, visitors pass through an exhibitions that reveal New England's Native Peoples, an explanation of why the colonists left England and Holland, and a hands-on exhibit explaining 17th-century navigation. The ship itself is outfitted as it would have been in 1620. Modern guides explain the history of Plymouth Colony and discuss wooden shipbuilding with maritime artisans. After viewing the ship, visitors may tour an area where they will learn more about this reproduction vessel; how she was researched and built, and about her voyage from England in 1957. Staff often demonstrate maritime trades: carving, rigging, tool-making, and more.

The Crowley Collection offers images of other historic sites in New England, including Old Sturbridge Village, the Strawbery Banke Museum (Portsmouth, NH), the Saint Gaudens National Historic Site (Cornish, NH), the Daniel Webster Birthplace (Franklin, NH), the Robert Frost Farm (Derry, NH), and Potter Place (Andover Historical Society in New Hampshire). Other regional themes include scenics, autumn foliage, county fairs, and of course, Red Sox Nation.

Permission to use our copyrighted digital images of Plimouth Plantation can be obtained from The Crowley Collection, which has extensive photographic libraries of general stock photography and golf images. Additional information can be obtained, and orders placed, by using the contact link at the bottom of this page to reach our principal, Ron Crowley.