Let us now leave Town Square and wend our way along Leyden Street, so
named in 1823, originally called First Street and later Great and Broad
Street. On the right as we move easterly toward the water we see, on the
site of the Elder Brewster homestead, the new Federal Building, in which
is located the Customs House and Post Office. This is on the corner of
Leyden Street and Main Street Extension, the latter extending over Town
Brook referred to in Bradford’s History as “a very sweete brooke,” and
which runs parallel with Leyden Street, emptying into the harbor just
below.
[Illustration: OLD LEYDEN STREET HOUSES
With gardens bordering the brook, popularly called, after the Dutch,
“Meersteads”]
[Illustration: PILGRIM MAID AND POOL
Brewster Gardens]
BREWSTER GARDENS
A BEAUTY SPOT
[Illustration: {Illustrated capital}]
A spot both picturesque and historical lies to the south of Leyden
Street bordering Town Brook. It covers land first allotted to William
Brewster, John Goodman and Peter Brown in the original lay-out. The
gardens in the rear extended downwards to the brook.
In the early days the estuary at the mouth of the stream was
sufficiently wide and deep at high tide to permit the passing of fishing
boats to what is now the third bridge. Many small craft “tied up” here
during the winter months and periods of bad weather. Later a dam was
built at the mouth of the stream and for generations water extended over
an area of several acres.
The reclamation of this area was a part of the Tercentenary program. It
was drained and graded, and the brook now follows its natural course
through the park, now known as Brewster Gardens. The old English or
Dutch gardens in the rear of the houses fronting on Leyden Street
present a decided contrast.
Near the brook stands Henry H. Kitson’s statue of the Pilgrim Maiden
mounted upon a native boulder and impressive in its sublimity. It seems
to symbolize the courage and determination with which the adversities
confronting the colonists were met and overcome. It was presented to the
town by the National Society of New England Women, and bears the
inscription—“To those intrepid English women, whose courage, fortitude
and devotion brought a new nation into being, this statue of the Pilgrim
Maiden is dedicated.”
Close at hand is the spring that supplied “sweete water” in the days of
the Pilgrims. Water from this spring has been piped to the street above
and supplies a drinking fountain near the Post Office.
A flight of stone steps designed by Fletcher Steele leads to this park.
Another memorial not to be overlooked is the stone seat also designed by
Fletcher Steele and presented to the town by the National Society of
Daughters of the American Colonists who came in the ship Ann in 1623.
[Illustration: PLYMOUTH POST OFFICE (Early Photo)
Corner Leyden Street—First Street in New England]
Much of the credit for reclaiming this area so closely associated with
the lives of the Pilgrims and developing this beautiful park is due Mrs.
William H. Forbes of Milton whose father, Ralph Waldo Emerson, married
Miss Lidian Jackson, daughter of Charles Jackson, in the old Winslow
House shown on another page. This park is reached from both Water Street
and Main Street Extension.
The points of greatest historical interest are so closely related in
regard to location that to attempt to prescribe a definite route would
be extremely difficult.
The most important points of interest are within easy walking distance.
As a suggestion, however, one might follow Water Street from Brewster
Gardens north and find the historic Rock within a two minutes’ walk.
During the Tercentenary celebration many changes were made in this
section. The old wharves and buildings that had characterized this spot
for generations, are gone and the immediate surroundings have been
converted into a state reservation. It is a ground made sacred to the
memory of the Pilgrims as is evidenced by the many memorials and markers
in the vicinity, gifts of the various historical societies throughout
the country.
[Illustration: PERISTYLE OVER PLYMOUTH ROCK]