Plimoth Patuxet Museums

ABOUT

Plimoth Patuxet Museums (PPM) is a not-for-profit living history museum curating full-scale immersive environments that engage learners with the history of 17th-century Plymouth Colony and Wampanoag Patuxet. PPM leverages immersive education to help hundreds of thousands of people learn about one of the country’s most vital and vibrant chapters of its history.

The 17th-Century English Village is PPM’s largest living history exhibit and portrays life in 1627 in Plymouth Colony. In the Village, trained first-person interpreters in period dress interact with visitors by answering questions and discussing life in 17th century Massachusetts. They also encourage guests to participate in many hands-on demonstrations of cooking, planting, and animal husbandry. Placed on a hillside with sweeping ocean views, the Village is a reproduction of what Plymouth Colony possibly looked like in the early 1620s, based on extensive and ongoing scholarly research and review.

PPM also has a replica of the original Mayflower, the Mayflower II, the ship that carried the Pilgrims from England in 1620. Additionally, there is a Wampanoag homesite, demonstrating the life of Native Americans, a Craft Center where the making of pottery is demonstrated and explained, and the Grist Mill, a reproduction 1636 fully functional grist mill similar to that used by the Pilgrims.

HISTORY

Plimoth Patuxet Museums began in 1947 when Henry Hornblower II and some business associates opened two English cottages and a replica fort on the waterfront of Plymouth, Massachusetts. Over time, Plimoth has added many interesting historically accurate items, the first being the Mayflower II in 1959. The Wampanoag Homesite was opened in 1973, followed by the Hornblower Visitor Center (1987), the Craft Center (1992), and the newest building the Grist Mill (2013).

GRANT PROJECT

The Americana Corner Preserving America Grant awarded to the Plimoth Patuxet Museums funded the acquisition of accessories critical to the living history programs offered at the Museums, programs that allow PPM to illuminate the past. With the support of Americana Corner, Plimoth Patuxet Museums can deepen the living history experience in the 17th-Century English Village.

Additionally, Americana Corner supported the reconstruction of the palisade wall that surrounds the English Village. This project, a goal of PPM for 10 years, is based on archaeological work in downtown Plymouth, at the site of the original colony, which revealed new details about this structure.

Americana Corner is proud to assist the Plimoth Patuxet Museums with its mission to preserve the Great American Story and to help our fellow citizens grow their love of country.