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New Bedford Historic District |
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![[photo]](buildings/bed1.jpg "[photo]")
New Bedford Historic District
Photos from NPS Maritime Heritage Program collection |
Shortly after New Bedford's establishment as a town in the early 1760s it became an important whaling port. New Bedford possessed a deep-water harbor, which allowed it to supersede Nantucket as the Nation's leader in the whaling industry. New Bedford maintained that position until the growth of the petroleum industry in the late 1850s, brought American whaling to an end. Comprised of approximately 20 historic buildings situated within 12 city blocks and totaling approximately 20 acres, the New Bedford Historic District is a good example of the commercial district of a major New England seaport between 1810 and 1855. The success and wealth of local mariners and merchants is also evident in the buildings they built and used.
![[photo]](buildings/bed2.jpg "[photo]")
New Bedford Historic District
Photo by and courtesy of Galen R Frysinger, www.galenfrysinger.com
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The district contains good examples of smaller Federal and Greek Revival style buildings with shops on the ground floor and living quarters above, as well as several gable-roofed warehouses of brick or stone. Some of the district's major institutional buildings constructed during this period include the U.S. Custom House, Mechanics Bank, Merchant's Bank and New Bedford Institution for Savings. Other prominent buildings in the New Bedford Historic District include the Samuel Rodman House (1831), the Mariner's Home (circa 1790), the Seaman's Bethel (1832 and rebuilt in 1867) and the Samuel Rodman Candlehouse (1810). Sponsored by the Old Dartmouth Historical Society, the Whaling Museum in New Bedford is a massive 20th-century, Georgian Revival style building, which today houses extensive collections illustrating the history of the whaling industry.
The New Bedford Historic District is roughly bounded by portions of Acushnet Ave., Elm, Water, Rodman, Front, Commercial and Union sts. For further information contact the City of New Bedford or call 1-800-508-5353. The New Bedford Historic District is also within the boundaries of the National Park Service's New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park.
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