<P> Plymouth Rock is the traditional site of disembarkation of William Bradford and the Mayflower Pilgrims who founded Plymouth Colony in 1620 . The Pilgrims did not refer to Plymouth Rock in any of their writings ; the first known written reference to the rock dates to 1715 when it was described in the town boundary records as `` a great rock . '' The first documented claim that Plymouth Rock was the landing place of the Pilgrims was made by Elder Thomas Faunce in 1741 , 121 years after the Pilgrims arrived in Plymouth . From that time to the present , Plymouth Rock has occupied a prominent spot in American tradition and has been interpreted by later generations as a symbol both of the virtues and flaws of the first English people who colonized New England . In 1774 , the rock broke in half during an attempt to haul it to Town Square in Plymouth . The top portion ( the fragment now visible ) sat in Town Square , was moved to Pilgrim Hall Museum in 1834 , and was returned to its original site on the shore of Plymouth Harbor in 1880 . Today it is ensconced beneath a granite canopy designed by McKim , Mead & White . </P>
<P> Plymouth Rock is the traditional site of disembarkation of William Bradford and the Mayflower Pilgrims who founded Plymouth Colony in 1620 . The Pilgrims did not refer to Plymouth Rock in any of their writings ; the first known written reference to the rock dates to 1715 when it was described in the town boundary records as `` a great rock . '' The first documented claim that Plymouth Rock was the landing place of the Pilgrims was made by Elder Thomas Faunce in 1741 , 121 years after the Pilgrims arrived in Plymouth . From that time to the present , Plymouth Rock has occupied a prominent spot in American tradition and has been interpreted by later generations as a symbol both of the virtues and flaws of the first English people who colonized New England . In 1774 , the rock broke in half during an attempt to haul it to Town Square in Plymouth . The top portion ( the fragment now visible ) sat in Town Square , was moved to Pilgrim Hall Museum in 1834 , and was returned to its original site on the shore of Plymouth Harbor in 1880 . Today it is ensconced beneath a granite canopy designed by McKim , Mead & White . </P>
when did the pilgrims land on plymouth rock
when did the pilgrims land on plymouth rock
1620
1620