© Duane A. Cline 1999
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Home Building at Plymouth
On Wednesday, 20/30 December, the colonists met aboard Mayflower to consider the qualities of the various sites they had surveyed during their voyages of discovery. For more than a month they had examined locations along the shores of Cape Cod, Clark's Island and Plymouth Harbor. The time for a final decision had come.
The area which was to become Plymouth seemed most suited to their needs. There was a high ground with a good view of the harbor where defensive ordnance could be located; a good deal of land had already been cleared the Native Americans and corn had been planted there some four years before; a good brook ran under the hill with many good springs of fresh water; and, there was plenty of wood nearby for the building of their homes. By a voice vote the final decision was made and plans were made to go ashore to begin the work of establishing their town.
GATHERING OF HOME-BUILDING SUPPLIES BEGUN
Bad weather set in and they were not able to go ashore until Saturday, 23 December/2 January. On that day, as many as could went ashore to begin the work of felling and carrying timber �to provide themselves with the stuffe for building.�
Sunday was the Sabbath which was observed on Mayflower, leaving only a few men ashore to stand guard over their tools and supplies.
On Monday, 25 December/4 January, the men went ashore once more, some to fell timber, some to saw, some to rive, and some to carry and no man rested that day. For many days the gathering of home-building supplies continued, interrupted many times by foul weather.
[For the tools used in home-building see "Pilgrim Tools and Equipment" under the "Voyage of the Mayflower" heading]
By Thursday, 28 December/7 January, some of the men went to work on the hill overlooking the town site in preparation for the platform on which they would locate the defensive guns. The men at the town site began to calculate the number of families and home lots which would be required, placing single men with families to reduce the number of dwellings which would be needed immediately. They concluded there would be 19 family groups with larger families receiving larger lots. They determined that each person would be allotted the space of one pole wide and 3 poles length. [16'6" by 47'6" per person] Having determined the measurements, lots were cast for the location of each family's plot and the ground was staked.
BUILDING OF THE COMMON HOUSE
The preliminary plans having been completed, the building of a common house began in earnest. By 9/19 January, we are told the common house was nearly completed and only lacked the thatch covering. It was a building measuring only 20x20. On that day it was decided that each man should build his own house.
By Sunday, 14/24 January, there was already a great number of people ashore and the common house was full of beds �as they could lie one by another,� Winslow recorded.
On that day a spark from the fire flew up catching fire in the thatch, which instantly burned causing great excitement. Winslow tells us that William Bradford and John Carver were sick abed there and if they had not moved quickly their gun powder would have blown up. Even though the thatch had burned, the roof itself remained intact.
BUILDING THE SHED FOR PROVISIONS
On Friday, 19/29 January, it was resolved build a shed in which to keep the common provisions, some of which had already been set on shore. However, it rained about noon. That was the evening on which John Goodman and his spaniel went out for a walk and met up two wolves.
[See Mayflower Dogs under the "Voyage of the Mayflower" heading]
The shed for common provisions had been completed by Saturday, 20/30 January and on Monday afternoon they began the task of moving hogsheads of meal to the common house. The job of bringing supplies from Mayflower to the common house continued for several days.
The Pilgrim settlers were plagued by another fire in the common house where the sick were staying. On Friday, 9/19 February, a spark again kindled the roof but no great harm was done in that instance.
GUN PLACEMENT
During the next weeks, the Pilgrim settlers saw Native Americans about the little town, making them very uneasy. On Wednesday 21 February/3 March, the sailors from Mayflower brought one piece of ordnance ashore to be drawn up the hill and placed on the gun platform. This gun was of the variety called a minion.
With the approach of Spring weather and their homes nearing completion, the colonists turned their thoughts to fishing, hunting game and sowing seeds in their garden plots.
The defensive palisade surrounding the tiny village was completed in 1622, and a fort-meeting house replaced the gun platform on the hill in 1623.
[Note to Teachers: A suggested classroom activity would be the building of a miniature Plymouth Village. Following is a town plot of family locations as they appeared in 1627, and a pattern to be used in making model houses.]
Last modified November 7, 1999
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