Leaving the hill at the southeast slope and following down the terraced brick and granite walk, we step into Town Square. This is the logical center of the town and it may well be said, for generations the seat of government with the Town House on the south side, bearing its descriptive tablet. Just ahead is the first street leading to the water and reaching to the north is Main Street.

Let us here face about. As we look up the square we face the First Church (Unitarian), so called by virtue of its succession of unbroken records, the oldest volume of which may be seen in Pilgrim Hall. This church was dedicated on Dec. 21, 1899. Its arched portal is an elaborate copy of the portal of the church at Austerfield, England, in which Gov. Bradford was christened. A tablet near the entrance bears the following inscription:

The Church of Scrooby, Leyden, and the Mayflower gathered on this hillside in 1620, has ever since preserved unbroken records and maintained a continuous ministry, its first covenant being still the basis of its fellowship. In reverent memory of its Pilgrim founders this fifth meeting house was erected A. D. MDCCCXCVII.

At the east end of the church is a memorial window representing John Robinson delivering his farewell address to the Pilgrims. This window is an artistic masterpiece. It was designed by Edward P. Sperry and since its installation it has been an object of much interest to visitors to Plymouth. Numerous other windows are commemorative of historic events.

The wood church of Gothic design occupying this site previous to erection of the present edifice, was built in 1830 and was destroyed by fire on Nov. 22, 1892.

On the right of the square is the Congregational Church, or Church of the Pilgrimage, erected in 1840, on which is a tablet with the following inscription:

This tablet is inscribed in grateful memory of the Pilgrims and of their successors who, at the time of the Unitarian controversy in 1801, adhered to the belief of the Fathers, and on the basis of the original creed and covenant perpetuated, at great sacrifice, in the Church of the Pilgrimage, the evangelical faith and fellowship of the Church of Scrooby, Leyden, and the “Mayflower” organized in England in 1606.

The first meeting house was erected in 1637 near the Gov. Bradford House. This building contained a bell, as did the more pretentious building erected in 1683 with its diamond leaded windows, Gothic roof, etc. In 1744 still another place of worship was erected nearer the site of the present First Church, and this remained until 1830, when the church that preceded the present church was built.