Weird New England: Dighton Rock

Weird New England: Dighton Rock

When you are living in New England you are a living in one of the oldest parts of the United States. The European colonial settlements have been around for more that 300 years and there is a lot of good evidence that this area of the continent was visited by many other pre-Columbian civilizations.

Being that this area of the county is so old, there are a lot of strange and weird things that exist right here in my backyard. So, I thought it might me fun to show you some of them.
One of the places I have strange things I have always wanted to see is Dighton Rock, which is a 40-ton boulder, about 11 feet long and 5 feet high, originally found in the Taunton River as far back as 1677—according to the Dighton Historical Society.

During high tide the rock was under water, but at low tide it was clearly visible and what made it interesting was the strange carvings found its face. In 1690, reverend Cotton Mather wrote this about the rock…

“Among the other Curiosities of New-England, one is that of a mighty Rock, on a perpendicular side whereof by a River, which at High Tide covers part of it, there are very deeply Engraved, no man alive knows how or when about half a score lines, near ten-foot-long, and a foot and half broad, filled with strange characters…”
Over the years many people alleged to have deciphered the carvings, claiming them to be of Carthaginian origin, or Phoenician, Hebrew, Portuguese, Latin, Viking, or they may just be some doodles done by the one of the Native New England Tribes. The truth is that these carvings remain a mystery to this day, some 340 years later.

In 1955, the rock was moved from its original location to where it sits now in Dighton Rock State Park.
When I decided to go see the rock, it was July 4th of 2018, a hot and muggy day with me having nothing to do but take a little motorcycle ride. So, I figured out a route, packed a lunch and headed down. I also called ahead to make sure the park was open on the holiday, which they told me it was.

Well, being that this is New England and things do not always work like you would think they should…when I got to there, the museum that houses the rock was locked tight. It tuns out that I did not scroll far enough down the page, in the “More Info” section, and see that the rock is only viewable by prior appointment.
But, I had a great ride down, and back, and leisurely ate my lunch by the banks of the Taunton river. All in all, not a bad day. At some point I hope to make in down there again and actually be able to view the rock in person.

If you are interested in learning more about Dighton Rock, just do a Google search and you will find several pages devoted to deciphering the strange inscriptions.

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