Guest Author - Cindy Kessler

Once upon a time, there was a rock.

This may not have been the kind of introduction you were expecting, but it wasn’t just any rock. It wasn’t much to look at – no silver or gold specks, no diamonds buried within. It wasn’t very big either. Before 1620 it was just a very plain, rather forgettable little rock.

But, when the Pilgrims first landed in New Plymouth, it was this rock which tradition says was the first land to greet their sea-weary feet.

It was a bitter cold December 21st by our modern calendar when the pilgrims disembarked from the Mayflower. Years went by, and the “first comers” passed the story of their first years down to the next generations. They made special mention of the little rock that started the story of the American Colonies.

So when the town of Plymouth decided that progress’ time had come and a wharf was required to meet the town’s needs in 1741. At age 95, Elder Thomas Faunce came to the rock to denounce the suggestion that the rock would be brushed away and all the history forgotten. Elder Faunce had been of the second generation in Plymouth and had known well many who came to forge a new life on the promise of the new colony.

Soon after the rock was split and half of it was moved to the Plymouth Town Hall. The date of 1620 was carved to memorialize the landing and in building the new wharf a canopy was built over the part of the little rock that was left in place to protect it from further erosion.

In 1769, a group gathered in the town of Plymouth to celebrate the landing more than a century before on what was dubbed “Old Colony Day.” A miscalculation led them to celebrate the landing a day late on December 22nd. During the tumult of the revolution, the holiday was abandoned for more serious matters.

When the celebrations were resumed in 1793, the celebration not only marked the landing, but would forever be known as the first use of the word “Pilgrim” and the term “Mayflower Compact.”

Celebrations waxed and waned until 1875 when the Old Colony Club was revived and they breathed new life into the celebrations. 20 years later, Massachusetts declared Forefathers Day a state holiday – but on December 21st, the correct day.

So why not take a few minutes out of your holiday craziness to celebrate a different kind of holiday. It was the beginning of a great idea, and it all started with a humble little rock.