On this tour, you can view historic homes

The tour helps illustrate the state's history, tour guides say.
DUXBURY, Mass. (AP) -- John and Priscilla Alden came to New England aboard the Mayflower in 1620. The home they built some 30 years later in this town a few miles north of Plymouth is still owned by their descendants.
The Alden House is among 13 homes featured in "Backroads of the South Shore," a tour of the historically rich towns south of Boston. A collaboration between the historical societies of Duxbury, Cohasset, Hingham, Kingston, Carver, Plymouth and Scituate, the route is mapped out in a brochure offering short descriptions and photographs of the homes.
The tour meanders along Route 3A between Boston and Plymouth. Farmers' carts, stagecoaches and Indians once traveled along this route. Tour organizers say the stories of families who lived on this stretch of coast help illustrate the history of Massachusetts.
The houses were once owned by sea captains, Pilgrims and shipping magnates. One, the Old Ordinary in Hingham, operated as a tavern or "ordinary," serving "an ordinary meal of the day," historians say.
Small touches
At the home of John Alden and his wife, visitors can view a white bonnet in a glass case in the master bedroom. The bonnet, which dates from the 1680s, is still spotlessly white and crisp, as if Priscilla might have just taken it off to go to sleep.
In 17th century New England, married women weren't allowed to show their hair to anyone except their husbands, so they tucked it under bonnets or hoods, explained tour guide Chris Daley.
The bonnet caught the eye of Bob Leinhos, of North Smithfield, R.I., who was visiting with his wife, Delores. "It makes the characters seem alive instead of just some fact off a printed page," said Leinhos.
The Aldens were immortalized in Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's 1858 poem, "The Courtship of Myles Standish," which relates how Priscilla rejected Standish as a suitor in favor of John Alden. Longfellow embellished the poem with fictional details that added to the family's legend. Over the years, American painters like George H. Boughton turned John and Priscilla into the prototypical Pilgrims, often used for commercial purposes at Thanksgiving.
The real John Alden was a barrel maker in England who became a farmer after arriving in the colony. He died in 1687.
Other items
On display throughout the house are artifacts, including a small wooden box called a "baby minder" -- an early version of a crib -- a loom, double boiler, corn-roaster for making an early version of popcorn, toaster, small pots on legs for making stew, a spit for roasting meat, butter churners and hoops that women wore under their dresses.
"Back then, if they saw how people dressed today, they would have a heart attack and die," Daley said. "You were considered slovenly if you didn't have your button all the way up to your neck. If you showed your suspenders, you were showing your underwear. Even in the summer, they'd be wearing wool buttoned up to their neck."
The Aldens' 11-room house has its original beams, rickety staircases and fireplaces that once doubled as stoves. In a hallway, visitors can see patches of an 1812 edition of The Columbian Centinel, a Boston federalist newspaper that was used to smooth over a rough wall before applying wallpaper.
"The Alden family wasn't isolated here," said James W. Baker, curator of the Alden House. "They're like an illustration of what New England life was like over three centuries. We have a couple of themes that we're interested in ... family, work, community. We realize the families didn't just disappear, there was a definite evolution. They became ordinary Americans."
A stately stop
Another stop in Duxbury brings travelers to the stately King Caesar House. Built in 1809, the home belonged to Ezra Weston, who earned his fortune through shipbuilding and cotton trading.
Weston was nicknamed "King Caesar" because of his dominance in the shipbuilding industry, said Patrick T.J. Browne, executive director of the Duxbury Rural and Historical Society.
Overlooking Duxbury Bay, the house is displayed as it would have appeared in 1820, down to an authentic pair of glasses once worn by Weston and the original wallpaper featuring scenes of a French park.
Visitors can also view original documents listing the owner's business contacts, vessel cargo and capacities, and his credit status with Duxbury Bank.
Browne said that by viewing the homes as a group, visitors come away with a broad understanding of history.
"Instead of just little snapshots, you're getting the whole picture," he said. "With the backroads tour, the idea is to understand the history of the South Shore as a whole and how these towns fit into Massachusetts history."