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EEL RIVER & PLYMOUTH BEACH
by Howard P. Barnes
Pilgrim Society Note, Series One, Number 8, 1958
"Plymouth Beach" is the point of land jutting out from the mainland at Warren
Cove just south of Eel River and extending northerly, with a width of only a few hundred
feet, for a distance of three miles. It forms a protective barrier for the harbor at
Plymouth. Without this natural barrier the short front of the mainland would present
a very different picture.
Periodically exposed to severe northerly and northeasterly storms, combined with
exceptional high tides, Plymouth Beach has been subjected to extensive damage and erosion.
One of these damaging northeasters occurred on April 1st and 2nd, 1958, causing the
waves to break over the beach and the stone breakwater in many places. It broke the
concrete sea-wall near the public bathhouse at the "Head of the Beach," causing
extensive washing away of sand at the parking place, and carrying enough sand into the bed
of Eel River to block its flow.
From the highway bridge on Route 3A the Beach is separated from the mainland for a
distance of half a mile by the bed of Eel River, until the river empties into the
southeasterly part of Plymouth Harbor. The storm of 1958 has revived an old question
as to whether any advantage would be gained by cutting a channel across the Beach where it
joins the mainland, and leading Eel River directly into Massachusetts Bay at Warren Cove.
Bearing on the answer to this question is the history of the Beach and Eel River in
years gone by.
SOURCES OF INFORMATION ABOUT PLYMOUTH BEACH
Two books in the library of Pilgrim Hall give pertinent references to the history of
Plymouth Beach. One, the History of the Town of Plymouth from its First
Settlement in 1620 to the Year 1832 was written in 1832 by Dr. James Thacher, first
Librarian and Cabinet Keeper of the Pilgrim Society. The other source is the Records
of the Town of Plymouth, 1636 to 1705, 1705 to 1743, and 1743 to 1783, edited by a
local committee and printed in 1889, 1892 and 1903. The excerpts herein given are in
the original form, preserving the color and atmosphere of the periods when they were
written.
PLYMOUTH BEACH ABOUT 1770
In his History of the Town of Plymouth, Thacher gives a description of Plymouth Beach
"as well remembered by persons now living" at the time he wrote. This is
his description
Plymouth Beach commences at Eel River, and extending three miles
northerly, is a natural barrier to the wharves against the sweeping surges of the ocean.
Originally, the beach consisted of sand hills and hollows, covered with beach grass,
excepting an area of about 80 rods in length, and 30 rods in breadth, which was a
thick forest. The inner side of the beach was covered with plum and wild cherry
trees, and the swamp with large pitch pine and beech wood, with a large quantity of white
grape-vines attached to the trees. In the centre of the hollow, was a spot about
fifty feet square, that was a firm green sward, shaded by four beech trees, from which
were suspended numerous vines with clusters of grapes, in their proper season. This
was a pleasant resort for gentlemen and ladies, and was much frequented in the summer
season...
The point of the beach extended to the spot where the stone pier now (1832) stands, and
not far from the point was a house of entertainment for mariners, as the harbor was a
famous anchorage, and sometimes near one hundred vessels were seen riding in the Cow Yard.
This was the natural state of the beach until about 1770.
Our ancestors were well aware of the importance of the beach as security to the
harbor, and we find in 1702 a penalty of five shillings imposed on anyone who shall fell
trees or set fires on the beach. |
From the Records of the Town of Plymouth
Plimouth August 31 1702
...At this Meeting upon Complaint Made to the town of the grat damage likly to accrew the
harbour by the cutting down of pine trees at the beach The Inhabitants doe therefor voate
that henceforth Noe pine trees shall be felled on sd beach on forfiture of 5 shillings pr
tree to be Recoverable of those yt soe doe & that Noe Man shall set aney fire on sd
beach on forfiture of 5 shillings per time for the towns use. |
STORM HAZARDS
Dr. Thacher's descriptions of the destructive storms and tides of the early days give us
an understanding of the hazards to which the Beach has always been exposed from these
causes.
Hurricane of 1635
On the 15th of August, Plymouth was visited by a tremendous storm or hurricane, which is
thus described in Morton's Memorial (Morton copied the account given by Governor
Bradford in his history Of Plymouth Plantation) :
| It began in the morning a little before day, and grew, not by degrees, but came
with great violence from the beginning to the great amazement of many : it blew down
sundry houses, and uncovered divers others; divers vessels were lost at sea in it, and
many more were in extreme danger. It caused the sea to swell in some places to the
southward of Plymouth, as it rose to twenty feet right up and down, and made many of the
Indians to climb into trees for safety. It threw down all the corn to the ground ...
and had the wind continued without shifting, in likelihood it would have drowned some part
of the country. It blew down many hundred thousand of trees, turning up the stronger
by the roots, and breaking the high pine trees, and such like, in the midst, and the tall
young oaks and walnut trees of good bigness were wound as withes by it, - very strange and
fearful to behold. It began in the southeast and veered sundry ways, but the
greatest force of it as Plymouth was from the former quarter : it continued not in
extremity above five or six hours, before the violence of it began to abate; the marks of
it will remain this many years in those parts were it was sorest. |
Gales of 1723, 1770, 1785
The following is a quotation from Thacher's History of the Town of Plymouth :
| 1722-3 February... Under this date we meet the following record, made by
Elder Faunce, '...a dreadful storm, which raised the tide three or four feet higher than
had been known aforetime.' This is the storm of which Cotton Mather gave an account
to the Royal Society; it was on the 24th of February. In the year 1770 was a similar
tide; and also about 1785, when it was level nearly with the locks of the store doors on
wharves, and a quantity of salt and other goods were damaged. |
In April following the gale of 1723 this entry appear in the Town
Records
At a Town meeting held at Plymouth
Aprill 15th 1723 - voted That Major Lathrop Capt Dyer and James Barnebe be a comitie To
Treate With ye owners of ye Beach To prevent Their Cattle going on sd beach which Will
Indainger ye ruen of the harbor by ye sea breking over ye beach. |
The state of the Beach was still an anxiety to the Town in 1727; further
action was taken in 1748, 1749, and 1762. In 1764 comes the first mention of
breaches in the Beach, which caused increasing trouble and expense as time went on.
The Town Records give evidence of this
1727
At a Town meeting held at Plymouth in the Court House on the 13th of ffebruary 1726/7
Josiah Cotton Esqr chosen Moderator...
Voated that Mr John Murdock Isaac Lathrop Esqr John Watson Esqr & Stephen Churchell be
a Committe to treat with the owners of the Beach in order to the preserving of said beach
and to endeavor if possible to prevent the Harbours being spoyled and to make report of
their doeings thereon the next Town meeting.
1748
At a Town Meeting assembled & held In ye Court House In Plymouth on Monday ye 9th Day
of May AD 1748 ...
Then a vote was called to Know if ye Town would now act upon ye affair of Plymouth Beach
as mentioned In ye warrant.
Voted in ye affirmative.
And Proceeded viz; whereas many Persons Frequently Drive numbers of Neat Cattle, Horse
Kine & sheep to feed upon ye Beach (yt formes Plymouth Harbour) whereby Great damages,
hath accrewed, as also, by Persons Takeing stones of sd Beach, great damage has been
sustained, by all which ye sd Harbour Lys much Exposed. If not Timely Prevented
there is Danger of ye sd Harbours being Ruined. For Remedy whereoff The Town voted
That a Petition be prefered to ye Generall Court, for ye Purposes aforesd; and that Thomas
Foster Esqr be agent for ye Town to Prefer sd Petition.
1749
At a Town Meeting assembled and held at ye Meeting House In the first Precinct in the Town
of Plymouth on Monday ye 25th day of March A Dom: 1749...
Jeremiah Howes Lemuell Morton and Elisha Doten to take ye care of Plymouth Town Beach for
ye year Ensuing Agreeable to ye Late Act of ye Province Relateing to ye sd Beach.
1762
At a meeting of the Freeholders and other Inhabitants of the Town of Plymouth, Duly
Warned, Assembled and held In the Court House In sd Town on Fryday the 29th day of January
A Dom: 1762...
At sd meeting the Town made Choice of Thomas Foster & Edward Winslow Esqrs To be their
Agents, who are Desired and Directed to prefer a Petition to the Great & Generall
Court of this Province at their present session, seting forth the Dangerous &
Deplorable Scituation of the Beach commonly Called Plymouth Beach which makes the Harbour
in sd Town; And the great Danger sd Harbour is in of being Intirely spoiled & Ruined
if some Measures be not immediately taken to prevent the same, Praying the sd Courts
Interposition aid & Assistance, and that they would Grant them such reliefe as they in
their wisdom may think fit. |
1764
"In 1764," says Thacher, "a viewing committee of the town reported £20
sufficient for reports of two small breaches near the woods." To quote again
from the Town Records :
At a Town Meeting of the Freeholders & other Inhabitants of the
Town of Plymouth assembled and Held at the court House in Plymouth on Thursday the 12th
Day of July Anno Domini 1764...
Then the Town Voted to chuse a Committe of 13 persons To veiw the Beach... This committee
to veiw the Beach Called Plimouth Beach & Report what They Think Propper &
Nessessary to be Done to secure the sd Beach & Harbour & To Project some Plan or
method, that they may think Best for The Town to Do In ye Premises & to make an
estimate of the charge & To make Report At the Adjournment of this meeting.
At the meeting adjourned... Wednesday the 18th Day of July Instant Anno Domini 1764.
The Report of the Committe chosen to view the Beach & as Above was Read in the
Town Meetting & the Town Voted their Acceptance of it. Sd Report Is as
followeth, viz.: The subscribers a Comitte as within mentioned, Haveing Viewed the Beach
Within mentioned Do Report that we think it proper & Nessessary for secureing the sd
Beach & the Harbour Depending thereon, that there Be Built a very Good & strong
Hedge Immediately Well secured Behind with a Good Backing of Posts & Rails In the two
Breaches From Sand Hill to Sand Hill against the Beach woods; & Likewise set a couple
of smaller Hedges In the two Low places to the Southward of the Beach woods, & that
there Be next Spring Beach Grass Transplanted against the sd Breaches & Low Places,
and that they choose some suitable Persons Well acquainted with such Business to Procure
The Stuff & Get the Work Done & that We Estimate the Expence of the same At Twenty
Pounds Lawful Money.
James Warren, John Finnny, [and 6 others] Major Part of the said committee.
Then the Town made choise of Capt. John Finney [and 2 others] To Procure the Stuff
Needfull & Gett sd work performed & Well Done According to the Best of their
Judgments.
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Gale of 1778
In December, 1778, there was another great storm, long remembered because of the wreck in
Plymouth Harbor of the brig Arnold, with the loss of almost all on board.
This storm increased the two breaches in the Beach, and the Town was again obliged to take
action.
| At a Meeting of the Town of Plimouth ... Janry 11th AD 1779 ... Then
made Choice of ... a Committe to Repair to the Beach in this Town take Effectual Care that
what Meteriall are now there Suteable for repairing the Same be Secured for that purpose,
& to take Care in Concert with the standing Committe for takeing Care of the Beach,
That no neet Cattle, Sheep or horses be allowed to feed thereon. And to consider
& report what the town had best do in the Premises, at the Adjournment. |
A few days later
At a Meeting of the town of Plimouth ... Janry 19th, 1779 ...
In Pursuace of a Vote of the Town of Plimouth on the 11th Instant the Committe then Chosen
have Been & viewed the breaches made in the Town Beach in the late Storm, are of
opinion, that as the Season of the year is so verry Boisterous that it is best for the
Town to lett the Beach lay as it is untill Some time late in the next Spring & then to
Errect two Rows of Hedge fence at Each End of the Beach woods which is about three hundred
yards and that their be Stuff procured for the same against that time. |
Disastrous Gale of 1784
"In November, 1784," according to Thacher's account,
| a tremendous gale from the east, accompanied by the highest tide ever known,
carried away a part of the woods on the east side (of the Beach), and overflowed the
valley and swamp, by which all the trees were killed in about three years, except those on
the high ground. The same year a committee from the town viewed the breaches, and
reported that a wall of eighty feet in length and four feet high, would be competent to
the repairs, with a hedge fence in low places; and that it would require about 1000 tons
of stone, and at the cost of £414. |
Changes in the Course of Eel River
Thacher continues :
| The committee also recommended the digging a canal to turn the course of Eel
river, that it may empty into the channel within side of the beach as formerly: the river
having been diverted from its natural course by some proprietors of meadows for their
benefit, about 1750. It was the decided opinion of Mr. John Peck, a skillful marine
architect, about the year 1779, that for the safety of the harbor a canal to turn the
river back to its natural channel was indispensable necessary. The judgment of such
a man ought to have received immediate attention. |
Condition of the Beach 1803-1832
"But in the year 1803," to continue Thacher's account,
a committee of the town examined the ground and estimated the expense of a canal
at a sum from $600 to $800. The town did not adopt this measure, and such were the
extraordinary inroads of the sea, that in 1805 and 1806, the beach was in such ruinous
condition that the tide swept over it and boats actually crossed at the breaches; nor was
it long before a channel was worn in one of the breaches nine feet deep, and vessels
loaded with stone passed through. A promiscuous wall of stone was now erected, but
was soon entirely demolished by the surges of the sea, as if composed of pumpkin shells.
A reviewing committee now reported that a sea wall of two thousand feet, requiring thirty
thousand tons of stone, costing $45,000 was found necessary. The town petitioned our
legislature from time to time for assistance in repairing the beach. In 1785 a grant
was obtained of £500, conditional, that the town would raise and apply a like sum;
but, from inability, this was not complied with. In 1806, a township of land in the
state of Maine was granted on condition that the town raised and applied $5000 in two
years, which was accepted, and the township of land was sold for $9500. In 1812, a
lottery to raise $16,000 was granted by the general court, which sum as eventually
realized and applied as designed. Since that time another township of land has been
granted for the same purpose. A sum amounting to more than $40,000 has been expended
for repairs since the year 1806, without any assistance from the general government.
But in the year 1824, the town preferred a petition to congress for assistance, and
the general government assumed to itself the future repairs, and in 1824 and 1825 made a
grant of $43,566. In 1824, the repairs were conducted by Lieutenant Chase, of the
Engineer department... The next year the repairs were prosecuted under the
supervision of Colonel Totten, of the corps of engineers, assisted by the collector of the
port.
The method adopted for the repairs, is, by triangular frames of timber filled in with
stones, around and over which the sand gathers and forms a new brest. In other
places large bodies of brush are laid, which have produced the desired effect,
accumulating sand into cliffs and helping the growth of beach grass. The frames
employed are of three sizes, a part fourteen feet base, twelve feet rafters; twelve feet
base, ten feet rafters; ten feet base, seven feet rafters. These frames are morticed
and tenoned together, and placed in a line vertically on the surface of the beach, and
filled with stones. The largest size contains five tons, and the smallest three
tons. The whole quantity of stones used from 1824 to 1831 is 14,997 tons.
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Eel River Restored to its Natural Course
| As an indirect aid to the security of the beach, a canal half a mile in length and
fifteen feet wide was cut by the town in the year 1814, for the purpose of conducting Eel
River to its native outlet within side of the beach, which has been found to be of very
essential advantage. This outlet will require annual vigilance, and it is confided
to posterity as a work of great importance to the preservation of the harbor. The
repairs of this beach which have so long engaged attention are now considered as complete,
and with care and a little ANNUAL EXPENSE, WILL PROBABLY CONTINUE AS A MOUND OF DEFENSE
FOR AGES. |
These repairs have not proved to be "a mound of defense for
ages," as Dr. Thacher hoped. Major easterly storms, with high tides, have
continued nipping at the barrier of Plymouth Beach. In Pilgrim Memorials and
Guide to Plymouth, written in 1860 by William S. Russell, some thirty more years of
the history of Plymouth Beach are added, with stress on the
Gale of 1851
The severe storm in April, 1851, combined with the high course of tides occurring
at the same time, occasioned considerable injury near the southerly part of the beach.
We cannot but trust that government, following in the track of former days, will
not suffer this indispensable barrier against the ocean to disappear for want of that care
it requires to save our harbor from inundation.
An appropriate of $1000 made and expended by the town, and also one by the United States
of $5000 have, in some measure, repaired the injury sustained; but a further sum of
$50,000 would probably be required to insure permanent security. |
By the late 1800s, the Beach had developed as a summer recreation area,
with some fifteen or more cottages, a large three-story pavilion offering rooms and
serving meals, a landing wharf, and regular steamer service from Plymouth during the
summer. It was a delightful place for a day's vacation, basking in the sun on the
clean, white sand and enjoying the outside bathing on the shallow, sandy shore.
Gale of 1898
Then, on November 26th and 27th, 1898, came the worst storm on record in
Plymouth, known in New England as the "Steamer Portland Storm.: Let us refer to
an "on-the-spot" report given in the Old Colony Memorial of December 3,
1898. The storm began about 8 P.M. on Saturday night with fine snow which, by
daylight on Sunday, had developed into damp, blinding snow with an eighty-mile per hour
gale. Full tide was at 10:30 A.M., covering Water Street with two to three feet of
water. The storm abated by late evening. A fleet of vessels in the Cow Yard
parted or slipped their cables, and either sank or were washed ashore. Heavy surf
rolled across the Beach for over a mile, undermining the cottages, which were tumbled into
the harbor by the fierce gale. To quote :
At Plymouth Beach the destruction was complete, over a mile of the sand ridge
being cut down to a low bar. Every cottage was wrecked, all but one of the seventeen
being swept away, and the Columbus Pavilion being represented by a small part of the
original structure. The sand filled Eel River full inside the beach, and the surf
cut a new passage for the stream straight out to sea... The Warren Avenue and River
Street bridges were ruined.
The entire Beach was washed inland from opposite the Franklin House (at Manter's Point), a
distance of twenty feet, filling the bed of Eel River seven feet above its old level ...
and wreckage reaches as far upstream as "Hayden's Mills," there being acres of
it, while the road bed is covered with sand two feet deep. |
Three weeks later, the Old Colony Memorial reports that Major
Harwood, of the United States Engineers in charge of government works in this district,
visited the scene.
| He found the former protection to our harbor in very bad condition, about 9000
feet of its length having been overwhelmed by the terrible surf of November 27, and the
government barriers completely destroyed ... From $50,000 to $60,000 is needed to
put the Beach in proper defensive condition... We understand that Major Harwood is
of the opinion that Eel River should again be restored to its channel inside the Beach. |
The Federal Government, in 1899, stepped into the picture and assumed
the responsibility for protecting the Beach by a rip-rap dike, and for restoring Eel River
to its natural course within the Beach.
It is fitting to close this history with part of the record of the U.S. Army Engineer
Division, New England, kindly furnished me by Captain Walter H. Johnson. The
present stone dike begins north of the Beach Club, about 1200 feet northeast of the
northern end of the Plymouth Town Beach seawall, and extends for about 12,000 feet to the
high dunes near the outer extreme of the spit. This dike is covered with dunes in
some locations. No details are available for the several types of timber cribs used
in earlier days, and filled with brush and stone, or stone alone, as the storm of 1898
washed away all traces of them.
Since 1898, the stone mound dike has been consistently used. This dike is five feet
wide at the top, and is built eighteen feet above mean low water, or eight and four-tenths
feet above mean high water. The rock is placed on the easterly, or bay, side, with a
slope of one foot vertical to two feet horizontal, and on the harbor, or westerly, side
with a slope of one to one. Congress has delegated to the Corps of Engineers the
responsibility of maintaining this dike for the proper functioning of navigation in
Plymouth Harbor, and it is paid for by Federal funds.
That this struggle of man against wave and wind has been an endless one, is borne out by
the record of the Corps of Engineers of work done on Plymouth Beach.
| 1826-1834 |
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Construction of stone wall and planting of beach grass |
| 1835 |
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Construction of 900 feet of stone wall, 1500 feet of brush fence and
planting of beach grass ($50,000 spent 1824 to 1835) |
| 1836-1839 |
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Repairs to existing wall and construction of stone fill timber crib wall,
$2500 |
| 1840-1841 |
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Minor repairs |
| 1853-1854 |
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Closed 2400 feet of breaches caused by the severe storm of April 1851,
using triangular timber cribs filled with stone |
| 1866 |
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Replaced 1300 feet of stone filled timber cribs |
| 1868 |
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Constructed 200 feet stone filled cribs |
| 1872 |
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Constructed 200 feet brush bulkhead, 250 feet of stone jetties, added more
stone, etc. |
| 1873 |
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Constructed 3000 feet brush and stone jetties, etc. |
| 1874 |
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Constructed 3100 feet brush groins and more timber cribs |
| 1875-1882 |
|
Stone bulkhead on outer end extended |
| 1883 |
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Extended 830 feet stone bulkhead, etc. |
| 1886 |
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Extensive repairs to bulkhead at south end |
| 1888 |
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Constructed 370 feet of timber plank bulkhead |
| 1892 |
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1300 feet bulkhead repairs |
| 1899-1905 |
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November 1898 storm destroyed all protective works, lowered level of the
Beach, and blocked the outlet of Eel River. 12,000 plus or minus feet of new type
stone dike placed, at cost of $72,000 |
| 1910-1911 |
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Additional 616 feet stone dike for a total length of 12,459 feet |
| 1912 |
|
1300 feet of dike repaired |
| 1936 |
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8000 feet of dike repaired |
| 1957-1958 |
|
Still at it, repairing stone dike |
The concrete sea-wall and the rip-rap at the Town Beach property at the
"Head of the Beach" is a project, not of the Federal Government, but of the
State, with some participation by the Town.
And so it goes. From 1620 to 1958 we have had many destructive and erosive storms.
Will the stone dike protective barrier, adopted since 1898, with constant
attention, be the answer? Who can tell? The struggle of man continues, and
will continue forever, against the destructive forces which seek to wear away the
defensive barrier to Plymouth Harbor.
PLYMOUTH BEACH :
Protective Barrier of Plymouth Harbor
by Edward Chase
Pilgrim Society Note, Series One, Number 22, 1972
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These current notes are a continuation of Pilgrim Society Note No. 8,
dated August 1958, prepared by Howard P. Barnes. The reason for bringing up to date
the Howard Barnes report, only fourteen years later, is that around 1970 extensive
construction was completed by both the State and Federal governments, far exceeding in
scope and cost the combined total of all works done prior to 1970.
State Seawall
In the fall of 1969, the State constructed at a cost of $106,000 a concrete seawall 1050
feet long running northerly from the end of the 1958 wall to the Federal stone dike at the
Manters Point footbridge over Eel River. The elevation of the top of this seawall is
twenty feet above mean low water. On the bay side of this wall and five feet
below its top, a stone apron was built extending fifteen feet towards the ocean. The
County of Plymouth and the Town of Plymouth contributed a total of half the cost of the
seawall.
Stone Groins
As part of the contract for construction of the seawall, two stone groins were built
making a total of five stone groins between the southerly end of the Town-owned property
and Manters Point. These five groins are each 180 feet long, perpendicular to the
seawall, and are spaced 460 feet apart. The function of a groin is to build or
maintain a protective beach by trapping littoral drift (mostly sand) or to retard the
erosion of an existing beach.
Town Purchase at Southerly End of Beach
In 1962 and 1962, the Town bought from private owners about 1000 feet of waterfront
running from the end of the 1958 wall northerly to Manters Point. The average width
of this strip of land is 200 feet running between the center line of Eel River and the
mean high water line of Plymouth Bay.
Direction of Plymouth Beach
Although we speak of going northerly and southerly along the Beach, Plymouth Beach points
like an arrow in the direction of North thirty degrees West (true meridian).
Federal Construction
In 1970-1971, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers made a major contribution to Plymouth Beach
at a cost of $724,000. The work consisted of three parts : (1) rebuilding the stone
dike and installing stone aprons on both sides, (2) building a new stone jetty at the
northerly end of the Beach, and (3) building an adjustable groin. This work was
grouped by the Corps of Engineers under the title "Rehabilitation of Long Beach
Dike," with plans and specifications dated April 17, 1970.
Rebuilding Stone Dike
The rebuilt stone dike extends from Manters Point northerly about one mile. The top
of the dike is five feet wide and eighteen feet above mean low water. The slopes are
two to one on the bay side and one to one on the harbor side. On the bay side, a
continuous stone apron has been placed from the dike at elevation ten feet above mean low
water extending forty feet easterly towards the ocean. On the harbor side, a
continuous stone mat has been placed from the dike at elevation fifteen feet above mean
low water extending twenty-five feet westerly towards the harbor. The stone mat on
the westerly side absorbs the force of the waves which break over the top of the dike in a
severe storm and which formerly washed out the ground in back of the dike.
New Stone Jetty
A new stone jetty was built at the extreme northerly end of Plymouth Beach (Long Beach)
about 800 feet long and extending in a general northeasterly direction. The top of
the jetty is eight feet wide and runs from elevation eighteen feet above mean low water to
elevation twelve at the northeast end.
Adjustable Groin
The adjustable groin is 315 feet long, perpendicular to the Beach on the bay side and
abreast of the last group of three cottages (most northerly cottages on the Beach).
The groin consists of thirty-seven prestressed concrete piles spaced eight feet
nine inches apart. Between the concrete piles are inserted creosoted timber
stop=logs. By adding more stop-logs in the future, the height of the groin can be
adjusted to a maximum elevation of thirteen and one half feet above mean low water.
The site of this groin was picked to build up the narrowest portion of the protective
barrier called Plymouth Beach. If this experimental groin is successful in building
up the protective beach, the Corps of Engineers plans to construct ten additional similar
groins spaced about 1000 feet apart going southerly.
Storm of February 19, 1972
The new State and Federal construction received a severe testing on February 19, 1972,
when a tremendous northeaster with high-course tides hit Plymouth Beach. The
concrete seawall came through the ordeal unscathed as did the stone dike. The only
damage to be observed was to the stone mat in back of the dike. The waves breaking
over the top of the dike dislodged about one per cent of the cover stones (each stone
weighing 500 to 1000 pounds) of the stone mat on the harbor side.
Inner Breakwater
Although not a part of Plymouth Beach, note should be made of the fact that an inner stone
breakwater was constructed by the Corps of Engineers in 1969-1970. This breakwater
is about 3500 feet long and makes an arc in Plymouth Harbor around the Town Wharf,
the State Pier, and a new anchorage basin eight feet deep. The cost of this
breakwater and anchorage basin was $2,325,000 with the State and Town each contributing
ten per cent.
Ownership of Plymouth Beach
Plymouth Beach is 16,000 feet long. The Town of Plymouth owns eighty-one per cent of
the Beach. The other nineteen per cent is owned by twenty-four separate owners.
On these twenty-four parcels there are nineteen cottages at the present time.
Bird Sanctuary
The most northerly 3000 feet of Plymouth Beach, which is owned by the Town, has been
protected and maintained as a tern colony by the Massachusetts Audubon Society. The
Society has been ably assisted by the Plymouth Conservation Commission. In 1971, the
Conservation Commission enclosed the tern colony with about 7000 feet of snow-fence and
planted beach grass to help stabilize the dunes.
Motor Vehicles
In addition to action by wind and wave, Plymouth Beach is also being perceptibly worn away
by motor vehicles. The main cart-path or roadway along Plymouth Beach has always
been on the westerly or harbor side. However, about halfway along the Beach there is
a cut through the sand dunes. Most of the vehicles in the summertime take this cut
and churn their way northerly up the Beach on the easterly or bay side. About half a
mile northerly from the cut through the dunes, the vehicles (4 -wheel drives) come upon
the new adjustable groin which might be thought to be the end of the line. But the
stop-logs have been removed from three panels of the groin and the vehicles pass right
through the groin. The vehicles are also able to navigate around the inboard end of
the groin.
From the early eighteenth century when, as noted by Howard Barnes, the townspeople
attempted to prevent cattle herders from ruining Plymouth Beach, to the late twentieth
century when motorized cowboys are endangering the Beach, history shows that man, as
usual, is his own worst enemy.
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