Sachem Rock Farm is a historic farm at 355 Plymouth Street in

East Bridgewater, Massachusetts East Bridgewater is a town in Plymouth County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 14,440 at the 2020 census. It is also a part of Massachusetts' 8th congressional district, of which it is represented by Stephen Lynch. History The ...

, United States. The farm location is important for a variety of reasons. Its earliest historical association is with the

Wampanoag people The Wampanoag, also rendered Wôpanâak, are a Native American people of the Northeastern Woodlands currently based in southeastern Massachusetts and formerly parts of eastern Rhode Island.Salwen, "Indians of Southern New England and Long Isl ...

, who are known to have used the area, particularly around Sachem Rock, a granite outcrop they called Wonnocoote (Wonnocooto) that is the property's high point, prior to European contact. Sachem Rock itself is historically significant as the site of a meeting in 1649 between English settlers from the

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 ...

, including

Myles Standish Myles Standish ( – October 3, 1656) was an English military officer and colonist. He was hired as military adviser for Plymouth Colony in present-day Massachusetts, United States by the Pilgrims (Plymouth Colony), Pilgrims. Standish accompan ...

, with the Wampanoag sachem

Massasoit Massasoit Sachem ( ) or Ousamequin (1661)"Native People" (page), "Massasoit (Ousamequin) Sachem" (section),''MayflowerFamilies.com'', web pag was the sachem or leader of the Wampanoag confederacy. ''Massasoit'' means ''Great Sachem''. Although ...

. In this meeting the colonists purchased rights to a large tract of land, including East and

West Bridgewater West Bridgewater is a town in Plymouth County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 7,707 at the 2020 census. History West Bridgewater was first settled in 1651 as a part of Olde Bridgewater. The town separated from Bridgewater, Ma ...

, Bridgewater, and Brockton. The land around Sachem Rock was settled by 1665, with a farm and gristmill nearby on the

Satucket River The Satucket River is U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed April 1, 2011 river in southeastern Massachusetts within the Taunton River Watershed. It flows generally west from ...

, and has seen agricultural uses ever since. The oldest buildings to survive are a complex of barns and other outbuildings built c. 1870 by Thomas Hewitt. The Hewitt farmhouse, built in 1869, burned down in 1926, and was replaced by the present two-story Colonial Revival wood-frame house by Henry Moorhouse. The property was purchased by the Town of East Bridgewater in 1998, and is now open to the public. Around 2012, the tow
renovated
the two-story Colonial Revival wood-frame house, and replaced and connected a nearby barn, creatin
The Center at Sachem Rock
which houses the town's Council on Aging. The facility is rented out as a function hall. Also on the property, during the planting months, residents maintain small gardening plots used for th
East Bridgewater Community Gardens
The farm 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 2006. It is expected to yield archaeologically significant finds concerning its pre-contact uses, as well as the sites of houses, outbuildings, and industrial mills from the colonial period through the 19th century.

References

{{National Register of Historic Places in Massachusetts Historic districts in Plymouth County, Massachusetts National Register of Historic Places in Plymouth County, Massachusetts East Bridgewater, Massachusetts Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Massachusetts Farms on the National Register of Historic Places in Massachusetts

See also

References