Parting Ways, Historic district and cemetery in Plymouth, US.
Parting Ways is a cemetery and archaeological site in Plymouth, Massachusetts, where burial grounds and house foundations from the late 1700s have survived above and below ground. The remains are sparse, but they mark the location of a real settlement founded by formerly enslaved people.
After the American Revolutionary War, four free Black men were granted a parcel of land in Plymouth, where they established their own community. The settlement stayed in family hands for generations before it was eventually abandoned.
Parting Ways is one of the few places in New England where the traces of a free Black community from the 1700s are still visible on the ground. The graves and house foundations show how these families built a life apart from the colonial society around them.
The site is a short drive from central Plymouth and is best reached by car, as the surrounding area has few amenities. Reading about the site beforehand makes it easier to understand what you are seeing, since the visible remains are minimal.
The four founders, Cato Howe, Plato Turner, Quamany Quash, and Prince Goodwin, are recorded by name in colonial documents, which is rare for communities of this kind from that period. Their names were brought back into public view through archaeological research in the 20th century, making the site an early example of community archaeology in the US.
The community of curious travelers
AroundUs brings together thousands of curated places, local tips, and hidden gems, enriched daily by 60,000 contributors worldwide.
