The Pilgrim Hall Museum at 75 Court Street in

Plymouth, Massachusetts Plymouth ( ; historically also spelled as Plimouth and Plimoth) is a town in and the county seat of Plymouth County, Massachusetts, United States. Located in Greater Boston, the town holds a place of great prominence in American history, folklor ...

is the oldest public

museum A museum is an institution dedicated to displaying or Preservation (library and archive), preserving culturally or scientifically significant objects. Many museums have exhibitions of these objects on public display, and some have private colle ...

in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

in continuous operation, having opened in 1824.

History

The Pilgrim Society, established in 1820, runs the museum. The museum tells the story of the Pilgrims and

Plymouth Colony Plymouth Colony (sometimes spelled Plimouth) was the first permanent English colony in New England from 1620 and the third permanent English colony in America, after Newfoundland and the Jamestown Colony. It was settled by the passengers on t ...

. Architect Alexander Parris designed the museum building, which is built of Quincy granite and opened in 1824. Russell Warren constructed a wooden

portico A portico is a porch leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns or enclosed by walls. This idea was widely used in ancient Greece and has influenced many cu ...

in 1834, which had

Doric columns The Doric order is one of the three orders of ancient Greek and later Roman architecture; the other two canonical orders were the Ionic and the Corinthian. The Doric is most easily recognized by the simple circular capitals at the top of t ...

supporting a triangular pediment. The museum was extensively upgraded in the 1880s, and a library wing added in 1904. In 1922 the original wooden portico was replaced by the present six-column Greek Revival temple front, which was designed by McKim Mead & White. In 2008, an addition was added to the museum along with a new sign, activities, and advertising throughout the downtown area. Its building was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 1972.

Collections

The Pilgrim Hall Museum contains artifact collections, artwork, a library, and

archives An archive is an accumulation of historical records or materials, in any medium, or the physical facility in which they are located. Archives contain primary source documents that have accumulated over the course of an individual or organ ...

. Prominent pieces include original Pilgrim era artifacts, such as the original Brewster Chair and a 1651 portrait of

Edward Winslow Edward Winslow (18 October 15958 May 1655) was a English Separatist, Separatist and New England political leader who traveled on the ''Mayflower'' in 1620. He was one of several senior leaders on the ship and also later at Plymouth Colony. Both ...

, the only known contemporaneous Pilgrim portrait. The museum owns the remnants of the ''Sparrow Hawk'', the only known remains of a trans-Atlantic 17th-century ship, which wrecked off of

Cape Cod Cape Cod is a peninsula extending into the Atlantic Ocean from the southeastern corner of Massachusetts, in the northeastern United States. Its historic, maritime character and ample beaches attract heavy tourism during the summer months. The ...

in 1626. The ''Sparrow Hawk'' remnants are currently in storage. The top part of

Plymouth Rock Plymouth Rock is a boulder in Plymouth, Massachusetts, that symbolizes the historical disembarkation site of the '' Mayflower'' Pilgrims who founded Plymouth Colony in December 1620, and has been claimed to be the Pilgrims' actual landing site. ...

sat in front of the building from the 1830s to the 1880s, when it was reunited with the bottom half in the Plymouth waterfront. A portion of the Rock was retained at the museum where visitors are currently permitted to touch it.

Gallery

File:Mayflower in Plymouth Harbor, by William Halsall.jpg, ''Mayflower in Plymouth Harbor'', by William Halsall, 1882. Image:Mayflower_compact.jpg, ''Signing the

Mayflower Compact The Mayflower Compact, originally titled Agreement Between the Settlers of New Plymouth, was the first governing document of Plymouth Colony. It was written by the men aboard the ''Mayflower,'' consisting of Separatist Puritans, adventurers, a ...

'', by Edward Percy Moran, c. 1900, is now in the collection of the Pilgrim Hall Museum File:Edward_Winslow.jpg, The museum's 1651 portrait of

, the only known portrait of a Pilgrim painted from life Image:The Landing of the Pilgrims (1877) by Henry A. Bacon.jpg, The museum owns ''The Landing of the Pilgrims.'' by Henry A. Bacon, 1877 Image:Elder Brewster Chair and Peregrine White cradle.jpg, The museum owns the original Elder Brewster Chair and Peregrine White cradle Image:Pilgrim Museum in 1910.jpg, Pilgrim Museum in 1910 postcard Image:Embarkation of the Pilgrims.jpg, ''Embarkation of the Pilgrims'' by Robert Weir, a copy is also located in the

United States Capitol rotunda The United States Capitol building features a central rotunda below the Capitol dome. Built between 1818 and 1824, the rotunda has been described as the Capitol's "symbolic and physical heart". The rotunda is connected by corridors leading so ...

Washington, DC Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and Federal district of the United States, federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from ...

Image:Sparrow Hawk ship.jpg, the 1626 ''Sparrow-Hawk'' wreck is displayed at the museum File:PlymouthRock @PHM.JPG, A portion of Plymouth Rock on display at the museum

References

External links

Pilgrim Hall Museum website
{{Authority control Museums on the National Register of Historic Places in Massachusetts Museums established in 1824 Museums in Plymouth, Massachusetts History museums in Massachusetts Plymouth Colony National Register of Historic Places in Plymouth County, Massachusetts 1824 establishments in Massachusetts

History

Collections

Gallery

See also

References

Further reading

Sparrow Hawk

External links