Many historical firsts took place in Scituate - by Nina Belsan

In 1640, Isaac Stedman built a dam across First Herring Brook and built a sawmill beside Old Oaken Bucket Pond in Greenbush.

In 1650, John Stockbridge built the grist mill which is the first water-driven grist mill in Scituate.

The first ship to circumnavigate the globe--the Columbia--was built in Scituate on the world famous North River.

Scituate settlers sent a letter to the congress stating their intention to be free of Britain long before the Declaration of Independence.

Incorporated in the structure that is now The Barker Tavern, is perhaps the oldest English house in America built in 1634.

About 1646, Scituate was the first town in the Plymouth Colony to employ a jury or commission to lay out roads. The first road laid out followed the course of what is now Judge Cushing Highway or Route 3A.

The first newspaper in the Plymouth Colony: "Weekly Intellegence" later named the "Boston News Letter," was published in 1706 by Scituate resident John Campbell.

Samuel Woodworth, Scituate's first native poet, made Scituate and himself famous with his poem: "Old Oaken Bucket."

The first land boom in the New World was no doubt started by Timothy Hatherly, the "Father of Scituate" who doled out parcels of Scituate land.