Plymouth Rock is often hailed as the spot where the Pilgrims first set foot in 1620—but there’s no historical evidence they ever stepped on it. 

In fact, not one Pilgrim document mentions the rock at all.

The legend began in 1741, over a century later, when 94-year-old Thomas Faunce pointed to a boulder and declared, “That’s where they landed!” Despite the shaky source, the story stuck.

The rock has since been moved, split in half, and chipped away by souvenir hunters. Today, about a third of the original remains, encased in a monument in Plymouth.

Is it just a rock? Technically, yes. But it’s also a powerful symbol—more myth than fact—that became part of America’s origin story.