Duxbury

Duxbury: Myles Standish Monument

Duxbury, town (township), Plymouth county, eastern Massachusetts, U.S. It lies on Duxbury Bay (an inlet of Cape Cod Bay), 33 miles (53 km) south of Boston, and includes the villages of Duxbury and South Duxbury. Settled about 1628, it counts among its founders the Pilgrim colonists Myles Standish, William Brewster, and John Alden. Named for Duxbury Hall in Lancashire, England, seat of the Standish family, it was incorporated in 1637, becoming the second town in the Plymouth colony. Following the American Revolution, shipbuilding and fishing were significant activities. The town is now mainly residential, and many of its residents commute to work in Greater Boston. Colonial monuments include the Alden House (1653; last home of John and Priscilla Alden), the Standish Monument State Reservation (a granite viewing tower built in 1898 and renovated in 1988), and the Old Burying Ground, with the graves of Standish and Alden. Area 24 square miles (62 square km). Pop. (2000) 14,248; (2010) 15,059.