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Photograph of First Parish Church in Plymouth
Photograph by Raime, CC BY-SA 3.0. Via Wikimedia Commons.

First Parish Church of Plymouth

Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2014. A historic map-sheet match is not published yet. The record needs a coordinate-quality review before it can be joined to a sheet boundary.

From the record

“First Parish Church in Plymouth is a historic Unitarian Universalist church at the base of Burial Hill on the town square off Leyden Street in Plymouth, Massachusetts. The congregation was founded in 1620 by the Pilgrims in Plymouth.”

Wikipedia article First Parish Church in Plymouth, CC BY-SA 4.0.

one of 93 National Register listings in Plymouth County · listed in 2014 · category: Building · one of 1 National Historic Landmarks in Plymouth County.

Sources: the Wikipedia article · the National Register database, National Park Service

The listing

  • What is counted as historic. The nomination lists 2 structuress, 1 building as contributing to the listing.
  • Address. 19 Town Sq., Plymouth, 02360
  • When was it listed? 2014-12-02
  • Category. building
  • Township. Plymouth town
  • National Register reference number. 14000973 - assigned by the National Park Service when the property was listed.

The ground it stands on

848,545 words

The chapter on Plymouth Town in History of the Early Settlement of Bridgewater, in Plymouth County, Massachusetts, Including an Extensive Family Register, published 1840 names Plymouth. This is what it says, exactly as the scans read.

In preparing the work the records of the town of Bridgewater, and of its several parishes and churches, have been the first and principal sources, whence the materials have been derived. The old Colony and Plymouth county records have furnished also valuable information. Judge Davis' improved edition of Morton's, New England Memorial, Farmer's Register, the Collections of the Mass. Hist. Society, and various local histories have also been advantageously consulted. But so many and so various have been the sources, both public and private, from which information and facts have been obtained, that it would be difficult, if recollected, to enumerate them. The loss of all the early records of Duxbury previous to 1G54, which are said to have been burnt, is greatly to be regretted, as it was the parent town of Bridgewater, the first home and residence in this country of most of our fathers and original settlers in this then Plantation. It may well be supposed those records would have furnished us with much valuable information. The Colony records of births and deaths previous to 1CI7 are also lost, some of the first leaves by time or accident having been destroyed, which to the antiquarian is a deprivation much to be deplored.

Passage source: History of the Early Settlement of Bridgewater, in Plymouth County, Massachusetts, Including an Extensive Family Register, published 1840.

Bridgewater was originally a plantation granted to Duxbury. When the township of Marshfield became a separate and distinct corporation, Duxbury, from which Marshfield had been principally taken, applied to the Old Colony court, at Plymouth, for a grant of common land, or, as they expressed it, " an extension to the westward," as a compensation for the great loss of territory they had thus sustained. We find in the records the following order of court relating to it : -

Passage source: History of the Early Settlement of Bridgewater, in Plymouth County, Massachusetts, Including an Extensive Family Register, published 1840.

Machine-read from a century-old scan, so expect the errors a machine makes: misspelled names, dropped words, stray characters.

Read the whole chapter on Plymouth Town - 848,545 words on its settlement, mills, schools and churches.

Fires near this property

311 since 2006

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 311 fires within 5 miles of First Parish Church of Plymouth between 2006 and 2020, burning about 96 acres in total. 3 started naturally. 4 were recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Reported cause Fires
Debris and open burning206
Missing data/not specified/undetermined59
Misuse of fire by a minor28
Recreation and ceremony5
Arson/incendiarism4
Natural3
Smoking3
Fireworks1
Power generation/transmission/distribution1
Equipment and vehicle use1

The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.

DateCause SizeReported by Name on the report
8 September 2015Debris and open burningunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire ControlPLYMOUTH
7 September 2015Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire ControlPLYMOUTH
6 September 2015Debris and open burningunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire ControlPLYMOUTH
5 September 2017Debris and open burningunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
5 September 2016Debris and open burningunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire ControlPLYMOUTH
28 September 2020Misuse of fire by a minor1.2 acresMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire ControlKINGS PLAIN FIRE
27 September 2015Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire ControlKINGSTON
26 September 2020Debris and open burningunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named

Every fire recorded in Plymouth County

Specimens collected near this property

12 of 2,429 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. Museums hold 2,429 specimens collected within 10 miles of First Parish Church of Plymouth between 1816 and 1975: 1,769 Animalia, 398 Plantae, 186 Fungi, 59 Chromista, 14 Protozoa, 3 Unrecorded. 12 distinct Species records are shown. Collected by -- Russell, A., A. C. Mathieson and others. Each is a physical object with a catalogue number, and each entry opens the museum's record. This is what was collected and kept, not a survey of what lives here - nothing can be concluded from a species being absent.

Image SpeciesYear Collected by Where, as recorded
Specimen of Taphrina Fr., 1815Taphrina Fr., 18151900Seymour, Arthur BlissPlymouth Woods, Mass. [Massachusetts]
Specimen of Tolyposporium eriocauli G.P.ClintonTolyposporium eriocauli G.P.Clinton1900G.P. Clinton
Specimen of Trientalis borealis Raf.Trientalis borealis Raf.1900not recorded
A photograph of the species Sparganium L., not of this specimenSparganium L.1816Boott, J.W.Plymouth, Mass.ts.
A photograph of the species Juncus greenei, not of this specimenJuncus greenei Oakes & Tuck.1825W. OakesPlymouth
A photograph of the species Baptisia tinctoria, not of this specimenBaptisia tinctoria (L.) R.Br.1837J. Blake
A photograph of the species Myriophyllum humile, not of this specimenMyriophyllum humile (Raf.) Morong1838W Oakes
A photograph of the species Utricularia cornuta, not of this specimenUtricularia cornuta Michx.1840NonePlymouth
Carex stellata Mack.1842Collector unspecified[Half May Pond], Plymouth.
A photograph of the species Pseudevernia consocians, not of this specimenPseudevernia consocians (Vainio) Hale & W.L.Culb.1849-- RussellKingston
A photograph of the species Amaranthus hybridus, not of this specimenAmaranthus hybridus L.1855not recorded
Phylloporus rhodoxanthus (Schwein.) Bres.1899Dr. Hallock

All 2,429 specimens within 10 miles, at the Global Biodiversity Information Facility.

Mines and quarries near this property

2 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 2 workings within 5 miles of First Parish Church of Plymouth: 1 past producer, 1 producer. 1 still produces. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Where SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
Nevada Construction CoSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast ProducerSedimentary
Plymouth Pit & Plant Wethers IncSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer

Every working recorded in Plymouth County

Storms near this property

43 since 1997

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Plymouth, the town this property stands in, in 43 storm reports between 1997 and 2023: 13 hail, 10 thunderstorm wind, 7 heavy rain, 4 flood. The reports record 1 death. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
September 2010LightningPlymouth1 killedA 29 year old man was struck by lightning and killed while standing under a tree on Burial Hill in Plymouth.
October 2012Thunderstorm WindPlymouth$25,000Multiple trees were downed by thunderstorm winds.
August 2003Flash FloodPlymouth$25,000no account filed
August 2015Thunderstorm WindPlymouth$15,000Multiple trees were downed throughout Plymouth.
June 2008LightningPlymouth$15,000Lightning ignited a structure in Camp Squanto, a boy scout camp on the edge of Myles Standish State Forest.
August 2003Thunderstorm WindPlymouth$15,000no account filed
July 2012Thunderstorm WindPlymouth$10,000Wires on Court Street were downed by thunderstorm winds.
August 2003Flash FloodPlymouth$10,000no account filed
July 2016Thunderstorm WindPlymouth$5,000A tree on Westerly Road was downed onto wires by thunderstorm winds.
July 2016Thunderstorm WindPlymouth$5,000A tree was downed onto a house by thunderstorm winds.
July 2013Thunderstorm WindPlymouth$5,000A tree was downed by thunderstorm winds at the intersection of Derek Drive and Route 3A.
August 2008Thunderstorm WindPlymouth$5,000Trees and wires were downed by thunderstorm winds.
July 2005HailPlymouth$5,000no account filed
July 2005HailPlymouth$5,000no account filed
August 2022FloodPlymouth$4,000Police reported a road flooded, with water half-way up the doors of a car. Street unspecified. Report relayed by amateur radio. The public reported 2.07 of rain with this localized storm.
April 2017LightningPlymouth$2,000At 6:20 PM EST, a house on Christopher Road was struck by lightning.
August 2014LightningPlymouth$1,000Lightning struck a shed on Bettencourt Road, causing a fire.
August 2023FloodPlymouth-In Plymouth, a car was stuck in street flooding.
July 2021HailPlymouth-In Plymouth, dime size hail was reported via a video on social media.
July 2021HailPlymouth-In Plymouth, dime size hail was reported.
June 2019HailPlymouth-Amateur radio operators reported dime size hail in Plymouth.
October 2015FloodPlymouth-The Route 3 southbound exit ramp to Long Pond Road was flooded and impassable.
August 2014HailPlymouth-Penny to nickel size hail fell for 2-3 minutes.
February 2008FloodPlymouth-Bourne Road near Route 25 was flooded in Plymouth. In Hingham, the Accord Brook was out of its banks and flooding yards on Prospect Street.
June 2007Thunderstorm WindPlymouth-Amateur radio wind equipment measured a thunderstorm gust of 74 MPH.
October 2007Thunderstorm WindPlymouth-A tree downed by thunderstorm winds blocked a road in Plymouth.
August 1997Funnel CloudPlymouth-Southeast portions of Town of Plymouth.
August 1997WaterspoutPlymouth-1 mile east of Gurnet Light
July 2012HailPlymouth-no account filed
June 2008HailPlymouth-no account filed
June 2008HailPlymouth-no account filed
August 2008HailPlymouth-no account filed
May 2004HailPlymouth-no account filed
August 2003HailPlymouth-no account filed
March 2001Heavy RainPlymouth-no account filed
March 2000Heavy RainPlymouth-no account filed
April 2000Heavy RainPlymouth-no account filed
February 1999Heavy RainPlymouth-no account filed
January 1999Heavy RainPlymouth-no account filed
July 1999HailPlymouth-no account filed
January 1999Heavy RainPlymouth-no account filed
September 1998Heavy RainPlymouth-no account filed
August 1997Tornado (F0)Plymouth-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Plymouth County

Map coverage status

No historic map-sheet match is published for this property yet. That does not mean no map exists. This record needs a coordinate-quality review before it can be joined to a sheet boundary. Browse the county's mapped places while that work is pending.

Listed places nearby

6 within 8 miles

Other National Register properties close enough to walk or drive between, ordered by distance from this one. Both positions come from the same geocoding pass that matched these properties to their map sheets.

Photograph PropertyDistance Listed
Old County Courthouseunder 500 feet1972
Plymouth Post Office Buildingunder 500 feet1986
Sparrow, Richard, Houseunder 500 feet1974
Howland, Jabez, House0.1 miles1974
Bartlett-Russell-Hedge House0.2 miles1976
Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church and Parsonage0.2 miles2007

Sources for this property

National Archives recordThe nomination case file for reference 14000973 in Record Group 79.
Wikipedia articleCommunity-written account of this property, licensed CC BY-SA.
Plymouth CountyAll 93 listed properties in this county.

Provenance

  • Listing record. National Park Service National Register of Historic Places, listed-properties dataset, current to 2026-05-22.
  • Map join. Address geocoded through the United States Census geocoder, then tested against the published boundary of every sheet in the USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection.
  • How this page is made. Listing fields come from federal records; map-sheet coverage is a labelled coordinate-to-boundary calculation, not a source-field claim.
  • Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.
  • Specimens. Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF), https://www.gbif.org/. Only records licensed CC0 or CC BY are used. Records licensed CC BY-NC are excluded because this site carries advertising. Images are checked individually and any whose licence is non-commercial, no-derivatives or unreadable is refused.
  • Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
  • Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.