Pilgrim Shrine Will Again Be Solid as a Rock

PLYMOUTH, Mass. — Plymouth Rock is on its way to becoming whole again, and the mason who is doing the repair work for $1 says he will have the Pilgrim’s historic landing spot back in shape for Thanksgiving.

“I don’t look at it as a job, I look at it as a privilege to preserve something that means a lot to people all over the United States,” said mason Paul Choquette, 42, of South Dartmouth.

Choquette was hired to fix the rock’s crack by the state Department of Environmental Management after it put out bids for the work. Since monetary payment is required, he bid $1. The work should take one day.

The rock, which weighs about six tons and measures about 14 feet wide and 6 feet long, is said to be the spot where the Pilgrims first set foot when they arrived from England in 1620.

The crack, which first appeared in the 1770s, was repaired in the late 19th Century. For 100 years, that patch-up job has stood up to the tides that occasionally submerge the rock, which stands in a half-enclosed protective structure in the waters off this seaside town.

But the original mortar used by that mason is deteriorating.