This History Bites episode journeys through the centuries at the Alden House in Duxbury, MA. It explores the home’s fascinating history, from its 17th-century origins to its modern-day preservation. Archaeological discoveries and family stories illuminate the lives of generations of Aldens. Click here for a 20-minute video posted by History Bites on October 7, 2025.

Located about 35 miles southeast of Boston, the Alden House historic site traces its origins to John Alden, a crew member of the 1620 voyage of the Mayflower, which brought the English settlers, commonly known as Pilgrims, to Plymouth Colony in Massachusetts in 1620. Also on board the Mayflower was Priscilla Mullins, a young woman from Doring, about 35 miles southwest of London, who later married John.

(Above, left and right) Photos record Alden family reunions in 1903 and in the 21st century. (Above, center) Archaeology, according to the Alden Kindred, provides much of the information we know about the home, now called the first home site.

(Above, left) Seated is Jack Alden, a Civil War veteran. This house had, at first, just two rooms, but Colonel John Alden turned it into a comfortable Georgian mansion between 1711 and 1733.