(Nov. 23) -- When it comes to celebrating the nation's history, officials in Provincetown, Mass., are tired of seeing their city taking a back seat to Plymouth Rock -- and they're launching a publicity campaign aimed at grabbing some of the spotlight, according to the Boston Globe.
Plymouth is the site of the Pilgrims' first settlement in the New World -- and of the first Thanksgiving. But the newcomers first touched American soil 389 years ago in Provincetown, not Plymouth. They were there for just five weeks, but it was the scene of a slew of other Pilgrim firsts, including the birth of their first baby. Still, Plymouth gets most of the attention.
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Courtesy of Provincetown Museum
The 253-foot Pilgrim Monument in Provincetown, Mass., will turn 100 in August. City officials are using the occasion to highlight Provincetown's historical importance as the spot where the Pilgrims first landed nearly 400 years ago.
"Plymouth is wonderful, but they were second! We were first," Candy Collins-Boden, director of the Provincetown Chamber of Commerce, told the Globe.
Provincetown recently launched a campaign to raise funds for its Pilgrim Monument, a 253-foot granite tower that will turn 100 in August. But the slogan for the drive hints at bigger ambitions: "Support America's history: It all started here."
