Old Sandwich Road

Old Sandwich Road was originally a Wampanoag foot trail that became the first public road in the country. It later became a stagecoach route carrying mail and passengers between Plymouth and Sandwich. It remains now pretty much as the Pilgrims had left it, a scenic dirt road bordered by tall pine trees.

Wright Tavern, the Rye Field, Sacrifice Rock, Telegraph Hill and Clam Pudding Pond are all historic sites along Old Sandwich Road that are located within The Pinehills.

• The scenic character of Old Sandwich Road is protected by a 100 foot buffer zone on each side of the road.
• The Pinehills also plans to create a buffer zone around Sacrifice Rock, a walking trail and a small park to honor this historic site.

Description of Sandwich, in the County of Barnstable.
1802. By Wendell Davis, Esquire.

"The traveller on the publick road from Plymouth to Sandwich would probably be often induced, from the sandy condition of the roads, and the unsettled state of the country, to anticipate with some solicitude the close of his pilgrimage. To those, however, who love to cherish the remembrance of "the days of old," the view of the sacrifice rocks in his way, which the untutored Indian, in compliance with a religious usage, has covered with pine knots and broken pieces of wood, may afford some relief to beguile the solitude of his ride. Clam-Pudding Pond, another object of attention to the antiquarian traveller, will also present itself to his view, where our ancestors, in travelling from the Cape to Plymouth, used to sit and regale themselves with clams and pudding, the staple dishes of those primitive times. After riding through a body of wood, twelve miles in extent, interspersed with but few houses, the settlement of Sandwich appears with a more agreeable effect to the eye of the traveller."

Wendell Davis, Born: 13 Feb 1776, Plymouth, Plymouth MA, Died: 30 Dec 1830, Sandwich, Plymouth MA

Journey to Provincetown
1800. By Rev. Timothy Dwight

"We passed several places which in this region have been kept in particular remembrance from an early period. Among them is a rock called Sacrifice Rock, and a piece of water named Clam Pudding Pond. On the former of these the Indians were accustomed to gather sticks, some of which we saw lying upon it, as a religious service, now inexplicable. On the shore of the latter the early colonists of Plymouth held an annual festival, and made this food a part of their entertainment."

Rev. Timothy Dwight, Born: 14 May 1752, Northampton, Hampshire, MA, Died: 11 Jan 1817, New Haven, New Haven, CT

Visit to the Elizabeth Islands
1817. Author Unknown

"Sunday we remained at Sandwich, and on Monday morning left it on a very sandy road for Plymouth. In the course of our ride we saw two large rocks, called Sacrifice rocks, from a custom, still prevalent among the Indians, of throwing sticks of wood or branches of trees on them whenever they pass. Nobody seems to know the date or motive of this practice. Near the road, seven miles south of Plymouth, is Clam Pudding pond, on whose borders the judges of the colony, when they made their pedestrian circuits in old times, were accustomed to stop, and draw forth from their wallets their homely meal, consisting of roasted clams and hard Indian pudding, the luxuries of that age of simplicity."