Why is Plymouth spelled “P-l-i-m-o-t-h”?
Visitors to the museum often question the unusual spelling of the name “Plymouth” in “Plimoth Plantation.” “Plimoth” is an old-fashioned spelling used by Governor William Bradford in his history of the colony, Of Plymouth Plantation. This spelling was adopted to differentiate the museum from the modern town of Plymouth. There were no rules for the spelling of English words in the early 17th century, and each writer did as he or she pleased, phonetically spelling the word as seemed fit — sometimes differently on a single page.
