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Provincetown: Pilgrims Landed Here First

Plymouth rivalry heats up as P-town seeks rightful place in history

By Jen Paton,  Newser User

Posted Nov 22, 2009 12:26 PM CST
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(Newser) – Provincetown, Mass., wants you to know: The Pilgrims landed here first. Sure, the fresh water was lacking, the sand not so great for growing things, and the Native Americans were a bit scary, causing them to move a few weeks later to Plymouth—the same Plymouth that gets all the tourist dollars and fame as the place our forefathers supposedly first set foot. This is a situation P-town urgently wants to change, reports the Boston Globe, and it's launched a campaign to restore its deserved glory.

“Support America’s history: It all started here,’’ trumpets the town's slogan. P-town's initiative is one of many that have failed to win it a place in America's hearts and minds, including the construction, 100 years ago, of a granite tower called Pilgrim Monument. In the mid-20th-century, poet Henry Kemp sent little bottles of sand to every state governor with the couplet, “Not on Plymouth Rock but on Provincetown Sand; The Pilgrim Fathers first came to land.’’ This also failed. Nonetheless, claim local officials, “Important things happened here, and we should remember that.’’

Wearing Pilgrim hats, Springmyer Elementary school Kindergarten students Cameron McWilliam,sing a Thankgiving song, likely oblivious to Provincetown's claims.
Wearing Pilgrim hats, Springmyer Elementary school Kindergarten students Cameron McWilliam,sing a Thankgiving song, likely oblivious to Provincetown's claims.   (AP Photo/The Cincinnati Enquirer, Ernest Coleman)
This turkey, savoring his last days of freedom, is probably not up to speed on the issue.
This turkey, savoring his last days of freedom, is probably not up to speed on the issue.   (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
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COMMENTS
Showing 3 of 6 comments
wiley14
Nov 23, 2009 5:08 AM CST
Uh, there were setllements in FL, NC, and VA LONG before the "Pilgirms", so please...
chicken
Nov 23, 2009 4:05 AM CST
whoops, san salvador not in florida
chicken
Nov 23, 2009 3:55 AM CST
What the hell? This is all wrong. Columbus landed in San Salvador, FL in 1492. First settlement was the "Lost Colony" in Roanoke, NC (1585). First permanent settlement was Jamestown Va (1607). Provincetown wasn't inhabited by "Pilgrims" until 1620.
US

 
pilgrims • Thanksgiving • Plymouth • Plymouth Rock • Provincetown

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