Let us now leave Town Square and wend our way along Leyden Street, so named in 1823, originally called First Street and later Great and Broad Street. On the right as we move easterly toward the water we see, on the site of the Elder Brewster homestead, the new Federal Building, in which is located the Customs House and Post Office. This is on the corner of Leyden Street and Main Street Extension, the latter extending over Town Brook referred to in Bradford’s History as “a very sweete brooke,” and which runs parallel with Leyden Street, emptying into the harbor just below. [Illustration: OLD LEYDEN STREET HOUSES With gardens bordering the brook, popularly called, after the Dutch, “Meersteads”] [Illustration: PILGRIM MAID AND POOL Brewster Gardens] BREWSTER GARDENS A BEAUTY SPOT [Illustration: {Illustrated capital}] A spot both picturesque and historical lies to the south of Leyden Street bordering Town Brook. It covers land first allotted to William Brewster, John Goodman and Peter Brown in the original lay-out. The gardens in the rear extended downwards to the brook. In the early days the estuary at the mouth of the stream was sufficiently wide and deep at high tide to permit the passing of fishing boats to what is now the third bridge. Many small craft “tied up” here during the winter months and periods of bad weather. Later a dam was built at the mouth of the stream and for generations water extended over an area of several acres. The reclamation of this area was a part of the Tercentenary program. It was drained and graded, and the brook now follows its natural course through the park, now known as Brewster Gardens. The old English or Dutch gardens in the rear of the houses fronting on Leyden Street present a decided contrast. Near the brook stands Henry H. Kitson’s statue of the Pilgrim Maiden mounted upon a native boulder and impressive in its sublimity. It seems to symbolize the courage and determination with which the adversities confronting the colonists were met and overcome. It was presented to the town by the National Society of New England Women, and bears the inscription—“To those intrepid English women, whose courage, fortitude and devotion brought a new nation into being, this statue of the Pilgrim Maiden is dedicated.” Close at hand is the spring that supplied “sweete water” in the days of the Pilgrims. Water from this spring has been piped to the street above and supplies a drinking fountain near the Post Office. A flight of stone steps designed by Fletcher Steele leads to this park. Another memorial not to be overlooked is the stone seat also designed by Fletcher Steele and presented to the town by the National Society of Daughters of the American Colonists who came in the ship Ann in 1623. [Illustration: PLYMOUTH POST OFFICE (Early Photo) Corner Leyden Street—First Street in New England]