Cole's Hill

Cole's Hill
National Register of Historic Places
National Historic Landmark
	Cole's Hill in 2008
location	Plymouth , Massachusetts , United States
Coordinates	41 ° 57 '28.5 " N , 70 ° 40' 47.8" W Coordinates: 41 ° 57 '28.5 " N , 70 ° 40' 47.8" W.
Built	1620/1621
NRHP number	66000142
Data
The NRHP added	October 15, 1966
Declared as an NHL	October 9, 1960

Cole's Hill is the name of a survey in Plymouth in the state of Massachusetts of the United States . The hill was used as a makeshift cemetery in 1620 - i.e. in the first year of colonization - to accommodate the dead from the harsh winter of 1620/1621. It is now privately owned by the Pilgrim Society , but is open to the public as a park. The area was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1966 , after having been recognized as a National Historic Landmark in 1960 .

description

Cole's Hill is east of today's city center and runs north-south along Carver Street, from where it extends to the shoreline of Plymouth Bay . At the foot of the hill is Plymouth Rock , which marks the landing point of the Mayflower . The area was given its current appearance in the early 20th century as part of preparatory work to celebrate the 300th anniversary of Massachusetts. The Pilgrim Society had existing structures removed and the site turned into a park .

On Cole's Hill are several monuments, including one to Obersachem Massasoit performing bronze statue of Cyrus Dallin and a granite - sarcophagus , revealing a crypt is most likely to contain the remains of the colonists there in winter 1620/1621 in the absence of a formal cemetery were buried.

Historical meaning

The first colonists of the New World reached the American east coast with the Mayflower in 1620 near the point which is now marked by Plymouth Rock. At that time, Cole's Hill was an abandoned cornfield, the original Indian owners of which had been wiped out by an epidemic that is still unknown today.

The winter of 1620/1621 was very harsh and killed 45 passengers on the Mayflower. The surviving colonists buried the remains at Cole's Hill at night, but without marking the graves to hide their weakness from the Indians. The hill was named after James Cole, who after 1645 ran an inn at this location with a view of the bay. Since 1820 the area has been privately owned by the Pilgrim Society, which was founded that year .