Plymouth Rock vintage view.

Oldest Tourist Attraction in America

Field review by the editors.

Plymouth, Massachusetts

Plymouth Rock is an American icon, the spot where the Pilgrims first set foot on America in 1620. The problem is, that story wasn't reported until 1741, long after anyone who could dismiss it as nonsense was dead. What we know today as Plymouth Rock isn't even the whole rock; it was hacked off of a larger rock in 1774, dragged to various locations for a hundred years, then brought to this site on the water's edge in 1880.

In 1921 a Greekish portico -- it looks like a scaled-down Lincoln Memorial -- was erected around it. The rock lies in the center, a gray boulder in a caged-in sand pit.

Visitors walk around the rock on an elevated platform. Not knowing what to do at an attraction that's just a rock, they throw pennies at it.

Oldest Tourist Attraction in America

Address:
Plymouth, MA [Show Map]
Directions:
Hwy 3 (Pilgrim Hwy) to US 44 (Samoset St.) east to town. South on Water St. to the rock.
Admission:
The rock is free, but you have to pay for parking.
Add to My Sights | Show My Sights

Nearby Offbeat Places

My Sights

Create Your Own Bizarre Road Trips!

Try My Sights

Massachusetts Latest Tips and Stories

Latest Visitor Tips

Sight of the Week

Sight of the Week

Emilio Carranza Crash Monument, Tabernacle, NJ [July 7-13, 2008]

SotW Archive

USA and Canada Tips and Stories

Latest Visitor Tips

Take Our Poll

sightings. Arrives without warning. Leaves no burn marks. A free newsletter from RoadsideAmerica.com. Subscribe now!
RoadsideAmerica.com Hotel & Motel Finder

Special online rates for hotels & motels.

Book Online Now