Abby Epplett, Historian

During my trip to Duxbury, where I visited the Alden House National Historic Site , Art Complex Museum , and Myles Standish Burying Ground , I also made several quick history stops around the town. Like in other New England towns, I visited the church, town hall, another cemetery, a monument, and the forest trails. As an added bonus, I learned that the land now holding the public library, schools, and fields once belonged to colonist Philippe de Len(n)oy or Philip Delano , a Huguenot or French Protestant born in Leiden, the Netherlands who moved to British-held Plymouth Colony in 1621 on the “Fortune”, the second ship after the Mayflower. A sign dedicated to Delano was erected by his descendents from Delano Kindred Incorporated .

During my trip to Duxbury, MA, after I had visited Alden House National Historic Site and Art Complex Museum , I stopped by Myles Standish Burying Ground , also called Old Burying Ground . This unique little cemetery claims to be the oldest maintained cemetery in the United States. The town of Duxbury has sporadically taken care of the area since the mid-17 th century and named the grounds after colonial militant Myles Standish , who is said to have been buried on the grounds on October 1656. The seemingly defunct American Cemetery Association gave a commemorative plaque to the cemetery in August 1977 as part of a belated bicentennial celebration.

On the same day I visited Alden House National Historic Site, I went down the street in Duxbury, MA to see the Art Complex Museum . This small contemporary art museum combined unique architecture and internationally renowned artists with the work of local creators. The visit started outside the building, as sculptures stood on the grounds. I recognized Five Shaker Houses as the work of George Greenamyer , whose sculpture Glace Bay stands outside Fuller Craft Museum in Brockton, MA . Art Complex Museum began in 1971 to house the collection of Charles “Carl” Augustus Weyerhaeuser, Jr. , his wife Edith, and their family. In fact, their son Charles Weyerhaeuser served as museum director since 1973 until a few days ago, when the role transitioned to Peter Mello, who previously managed WaterFire Providence . The collection included European and American prints, Shaker furniture, and Asian art, including a Japanese tea house. The grounds encompass over thirteen acres,...

In early August 2024, I visited Duxbury, MA, one of the first towns settled by English colonists in the 17 th century. My first stop was Alden House National Historic Site , listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1978 and constructed by John Alden for his wife, fellow Mayflower passenger Priscilla Mullins Alden , in the mid to late 17 th . The couple was famous not only for coming over on the Mayflower, but also from the poem The Courtship of Miles Standish written in 1858 by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow ( whose house I visited in 2023 ). The house is still owned by the family, who opened it to the public as a museum.