Emerson Park

48 White Horse Rd, Plymouth, MA 02360, USA

Plymouth Parks & Forestry: 508-830-4162, ext. 121160137

http://www.plymouthlittleleague.com/Directions.asp?org=plymouthlittleleague.net

Owned By: Town of Plymouth

• Directions

The home of Plymouth’s Little League, this property near White Horse Beach features a very well-maintained baseball facility.

Features

This land is within the region of the Wampanoag tribe, who in earlier times, maintained a fishing weir at the mouth of Bartlett’s Pond, nearby. Its outlet to the sea is sometimes known as Herring Brook. To learn more about our local tribes, we encourage you to interact with their members. The Mashpee Wampanoag and the Herring Pond Wampanoag both share information on their websites. 

The park is named for four generations of the Emerson family, who devoted their lives to the Manomet community. The name Manomet has been interpreted to mean “bearing of a burden,” possibly referring to the baskets used by the Wampanoag on trails between their settlements at Patuxet (Plymouth) and Cape Cod.

The history below was gleaned from interpretive signage at St. Catherine’s Chapel Park.

European settlement of what was then known as the Manomet Ponds began as early as 1639. From then until about 1880, the area was home to a sparse network of farms and fishermen’s homes. Summer visitors began building cottages on Manomet Point in the 1850s, coming to the area to enjoy extended vacations on the shore. Lodging houses, inns and shops soon followed. Shooting and fishing were popular pastimes. In 1899, trolley service became available, making the area much more accessible. Trolleys continued to run until 1928. There was a trolley station at the intersection of White Horse Beach Road and Rocky Hill Road, just south of where St. Catherine’s Chapel Park stands today.

White Horse Road was laid out in 1883, and paved in 1922. Taylor Road was constructed between 1912 and 1925, and then extended to Manomet Point Road in 1935. While today there are no businesses along Taylor Road, from the 1920’s to the 1990’s there were numerous commercial enterprises there, including the Whip-Po-Will Lodge, White Horse Playland, and later the Sandpiper Inn and White Sands.

In 1901, the Coast Guard established a station at Manomet Point, replacing the the 1874 US Life Saving Service station #5.

Habitats and Wildlife

This grassy property is situated within the watershed of Beaver Dam Brook, which originates in the Manomet section of Plymouth, flows through the Tidmarsh Wildlife Sanctuary and Bartlett Pond, and empties into the Atlantic at White Horse Beach. There are some maple, oak, and cedar trees around the perimeter.