Historic Walking Tour in Downtown Plymouth 👟🚶🌅
The best way to see Plymouth might just be by foot! So grab a friend and lace-up for this self-guided 1.34 mile path through historic downtown Plymouth at your own pace.
The Details:
Length: 1.34 miles, 1 - 2 hours
Easy, flat terrain. Sidewalks available for most, limited wheelchair accessibility. This path can also be accessed via car or bicycle.
The Map:
Did you know? You can download the map for on the go! Or print it out and take it with you.
The History:
For seventy years prior to Plymouth’s founding in 1787, generations of the Rhodes family were planters in the area. Arthur Rhodes founded what was to become Plymouth from land he acquired through inheritance, gift deeds, and purchases. This collection of property became his plantation and was called Brick House. From that property, he sectioned off one hundred acres, subdividing them into 172 lots, which he would sell. These lots were the beginnings of Plymouth.
Water played a major role in the development of Plymouth. Flatboats floated down the creeks and rivers loaded with goods and produce to be reloaded onto ocean sailing vessels. In 1790, the United States Congress established Plymouth as a port of delivery, complete with a customs house. Schooners bound for the West Indies sailed from the port heavily laden with hogsheads of tobacco, barrels of tar, pitch, and turpentine, masts and spars, corn and rice.
Being a key port, Plymouth was hotly contested during the Civil War. The Battle of Plymouth in April of 1864 and the sinking of the CSS Albemarle were the most significant and impactful events in our history. Only 5 structures survived the Civil War: Grace Episcopal Church, the Windley-Ausbon House, the Charles Latham House, the Picot-Armistead-Pettiford House, and the Clark-Chesson House. Look for these along with post-Civil War structures as you partake of Plymouth’s history through its built environment.
Don’t Miss:
Plymouth’s oldest surviving house, the Clark-Chesson House, was built by David Clark c 1810. In 1833, Elijah Cornell purchased the property, who operated Cornell Ship Yard in Plymouth along with his two brothers. His cousin, Ezra, founded Cornell University. This two-story, weatherboarded frame Federal period house is another of the five that survived the Civil War.
The Battle Scars on the Windley-Ausbon House. In 1862, a Confederate sniper positioned himself in the second story window facing north and alone began firing upon the advancing Union troops who were occupying the town. This skirmish hammered the house with Union minie balls, cannister shot from cannon, and a large hole in the north chimney. Probably built for Edmond Windley, it has been a residence to the Ausbon family until 2022.
A replica lightship that was once located at the mouth of the Roanoke River, the Roanoke River Lighthouse (Replica), dates back to 1835. It survived until the Civil War, when it was captured by Confederate forces and was eventually taken up the Roanoke River and scuttled. After the Civil War, a spark-plug type lighthouse was erected on pylons at the mouth of the Roanoke River and the Albemarle Sound. This is a detailed replica of this first incarnation, built in 1866. This original version served until 1885 when it burned down. A second version was built but was toppled by ice sheets a year later. A third version was built in 1887 that served until 1941 when it was moved to Edenton.
More To Do Downtown:
After, during or before (your choice), stop by Water Street to check out the downtown businesses.
