Leyden Street

Leyden Street in the late 1800s from a period stereograph

Leyden Street (Originally named First Street, afterward in the Records called Great and Broad Street; named Leyden Street in 1823, also known as Leiden Street or The Street), created in 1620 by the Pilgrims, claims to be the oldest continuously used street in the thirteen colonies of British North America.

History

The Pilgrims first began laying out the street before Christmas in 1620 after disembarking from the Mayflower, allegedly on nearby Plymouth Rock. The original settlers built their houses along the street from the coast to the Burial Hill where the original fort and meeting house was located and now is the site of a cemetery and First Church of Plymouth. Town Brook is adjacent to the street and provided drinking water for the early colonists. Governor William Bradford, Dr. Samuel Fuller, and other settlers owned lots along the road. In 1823 the street was named Leyden Street after the city in Holland that offered the Pilgrims refuge before coming to America. Leyden Street as it looked in 1627 has been recreated at nearby Plimoth Plantation. Although other streets such as those in Jamestown, Virginia were used intermittently, Leyden Street has been used continuously since the original settlers built houses along the lane.

Gallery

• 
  Leyden Street, the first street in Plymouth
• 
  First Parish Church at the base of Burial Hill on the town square, is a continuation of the original Pilgrim church
• 
  view from the fort at Plimoth Plantation, looking down a recreation of Leyden Street, the first street in Plymouth
• 
  Leyden Street, the first street in Plymouth, as seen from First Parish Church in Plymouth

See also

• Old County Courthouse
• First Church in Plymouth
• Burial Hill