Award-Winning Year
The Museum has been designated as the "Best Historical Site" in New England, crowning a trio of travel and tourism recognitions for Plimoth Patuxet in 2024.
Plimoth Patuxet has been named ‘Best Historical Site’ by Boston Magazine’s New England Travel Awards.
The designation crowns a trio of travel and tourism recognitions that the Museum has earned in 2024.
The first award was announced in February when the Museum was recognized as the “Best Open-Air Museum” in the United States by USA TODAY 10Best Readers’ Choice Awards. Nominated alongside 18 open-air museums chosen by a panel of experts including Colonial Williamsburg and Mystic Seaport, USA TODAY readers voted en masse to designate Plimoth Patuxet Museums as the winner.
"We’re truly honored to be nationally recognized as the Best Open Air Museum in the USA, and grateful to our enthusiastic community of members, teachers, visitors, donors – all the friends of the Museum – who voted to make this possible,” said Plimoth Patuxet Museums’ Executive Director Ellie Donovan. “This award demonstrates that our approach to public history resonates with our audiences as we continue to provide thought-stirring and engaging experiences of history for all who visit us in person or online.”
In late May, the Museum was awarded the South Shore Home Life & Style Best of South Shore (BOSS) 2024 Award in the “Best Museum” category. The BOSS Awards are hosted annually by South Shore Home Life & Style, the premier lifestyle magazine celebrating the seaside communities between Boston and Cape Cod.
The awards are based entirely on the public’s nominations and votes, and the publication shared that they had received over 26,000 nominations and more than 270,000 votes. “We are thrilled that Plimoth Patuxet Museums has received this accolade,” shared Donovan. “We are grateful to everyone who nominated this Museum and cast their votes.”
For their inaugural New England Travel Awards, Boston Magazine asked readers to nominate their favorite places across New England in 20 different categories. At the conclusion of the nomination period, Boston Magazine’s panel of travel experts reviewed submissions and selected a winner in each category. Out of the numerous nominees, Plimoth Patuxet was selected as the ‘Best Historical Site’.
“What a delightful way to start the fall season, with Plimoth Patuxet being named the ‘Best Historical Site’ by Boston Magazine’s New England Travel Awards,” said Michelle Cartwright Soverino, Deputy Director of Development and Marketing. “We are grateful to our supporters who nominated us for this distinction and also voted, as well as to the panel of travel experts who selected the Museum as the recipient of this wonderful accolade.”
“It is truly an honor to receive these three prestigious designations,” shared Donovan. “We are grateful to our community of supporters and to our wonderful colleagues who bring history, culture, and heritage to light for each Museum visitor through thought-stirring conversations and engaging hand-on experiences.”
Since its founding more than 75 years ago, Plimoth Patuxet has welcomed millions of people through its doors and has been a global leader in the world of living history. The Museum’s exhibits, programs, and events continue to reflect a commitment to innovation and scholarship in telling the stories of the 17th century in all their complexity. Generations of families, school children, and countless people from around the world have visited Plimoth Patuxet Museums to experience powerful personal encounters with history built on thorough research about the Indigenous and English people of the 1600s.