New Bedford, Massachusetts, United States

🇺🇸 New Bedford is a city in Bristol County, Massachusetts, United States. It is the state's sixth-largest city and the largest of the South Coast region. New Bedford is nicknamed "The Whaling City" because it was one of the world's most important whaling ports in the nineteenth century, along with Nantucket, Massachusetts; and New London, Connecticut. The city remains known for its fishing fleet and accompanying seafood industry, for its high concentration of Portuguese Americans, and as the primary setting of Herman Melville's 1851 novel Moby-Dick. From 1876 to 1900, New Bedford served as the initial home port for the Revenue Cutter School of Instruction, the precursor of the United States Coast Guard Academy.

New Bedford is the state's sixth-largest city and the largest of the South Coast region. The city is also known for its high concentration of Portuguese Americans. New Bedford remains known for its fishing fleet and accompanying seafood industry, which as of 2019 generated the highest annual value of any fishing port in the United States. The city is also home to the New Bedford Whaling Museum.

History Before the 17th century, the lands along the Acushnet River were inhabited by the Wampanoag Native Americans, who had settlements throughout south-eastern Massachusetts and Rhode Island, including Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket. Their population is believed to have been about 12,000.

On May 15, 1602, English explorer Bartholomew Gosnold in the ship Concord landed on Cuttyhunk Island while exploring New England. From there, he explored Cape Cod and the neighboring areas, including the site of present-day New Bedford. Gosnold left and settled in the Jamestown Colony of Virginia.

Old Dartmouth In 1652, English colonists purchased Old Dartmouth—a region of 115,000 acres (470 km²) that is now Dartmouth, Acushnet, New Bedford, Fairhaven, and Westport—in a treaty between the Wampanoag, represented by Chief Ousamequin (Massasoit) and his son Wamsutta, and John Winslow, William Bradford, Myles Standish, Thomas Southworth, and John Cooke. While the Europeans considered themselves full owners of the land through the transaction, the Wampanoag have disputed this claim because the concept of land ownership—in contrast with hunting, fishing, and farming rights—was a foreign concept to them.

Quakers Members of the Religious Society of Friends, also known as Quakers, were among the early European settlers on the South Coast. They had faced persecution in the Puritan communities of Plymouth Colony and Massachusetts Bay Colony; the latter banned the Quakers in 1656–1657. When the Massachusetts Bay Colony annexed the Plymouth Colony in 1691, Quakers already represented a majority of the population of Old Dartmouth. In 1699, with the support of Peleg Slocum, the Quakers built their first meeting house in Old Dartmouth, where the Apponegansett Meeting House is now located.

At first, the Old Dartmouth territory was devoid of major town centres, and instead had isolated farms and small, decentralized villages, such as Russells' Mills. One reason for this is that the inhabitants enjoyed their independence from the Plymouth Colony and they did not want the Plymouth court to appoint them a minister.

At this time, the economy primarily ran on agriculture and fishing. The availability of land attracted many Quakers and Baptists from Newport and Portsmouth in Rhode Island, as well as more waves of Puritan migration.

King Philip's War The rising European population and increasing demand for land led the colonists' relationship with the indigenous inhabitants of New England to deteriorate. European encroachment and disregard for the terms of the Old Dartmouth Purchase led to King Philip's War in 1675. In this conflict, Wampanoag tribesmen, allied with the Narragansett and the Nipmuc, raided Old Dartmouth and other European settlements in the area. Europeans in Old Dartmouth garrisoned in sturdier homes—John Russell's home at Russells Mills, John Cooke's home in Fairhaven, and a third garrison on Palmer Island.

New Bedford A section of Old Dartmouth near the west bank of the Acushnet River, originally called Bedford Village, was officially incorporated as the town of New Bedford on February 23, 1787, after the American Revolutionary War. The name was suggested by the Russell family, who were prominent citizens of the community. The Dukes of Bedford, a leading English aristocratic house, also bore the surname Russell. (Bedford, Massachusetts, had been incorporated in 1729; hence "New" Bedford.)

The late 18th century was a time of growth for the town. A small whale fishery developed, as well as modest international trade. In the 1760s, between the Seven Years' War and the American Revolution, shipwrights, carpenters, mechanics, and blacksmiths, settled around New Bedford harbor, creating a skilled and comprehensive maritime community.

New Bedford's first newspaper, The Medley (also known as the New Bedford Marine Journal), was founded in 1792. On June 12, 1792, the town set up its first post office. William Tobey was its first postmaster. The construction of a bridge (originally a toll bridge) between New Bedford and present-day Fairhaven in 1796 also spurred growth. (Fairhaven separated from New Bedford in 1812, forming an independent town that included both present-day Fairhaven and present-day Acushnet.)

Whaling City Nantucket had been the dominant whaling port, though the industry was controlled by a cartel of merchants in Boston, Newport, and Providence. In the 1760s, Nantucket's most prominent whaling families moved to New Bedford, refining their own oil and making their own premium candles.

The American Revolutionary War completely paralyzed the whaling industry. British forces blockaded American ports and captured or destroyed American commercial ships; they even marched down King's Street in New Bedford (defiantly renamed Union Street after the Revolution) and set businesses on fire.

Nantucket was even more exposed, and the physical destruction, frozen economy, and import taxes imposed after the war obliterated previous fortunes. New Bedford also had a deeper harbor and was located on the mainland. As a result, New Bedford supplanted Nantucket as the nation's preeminent whaling port, and so began the Golden Age of Whaling. William Rotch (owner of the Dartmouth of the Boston Tea Party) and Samuel Rodman were important Quaker businessmen in the whaling industry.

After the War of 1812's embargo was lifted, New Bedford started amassing a number of colossal, sturdy, square-rigged whaling ships, many of them built at the shipyard of Mattapoisett. The invention of on-board tryworks, a system of massive iron pots over a brick furnace, allowed the whalers to render high quality oil from the blubber. This allowed the whaling ships to go out to sea for as long as four years, processing their catch while at sea. Ships from New Bedford came back to port with barrels of oil, spermaceti, and occasionally ambergris.

Whaling dominated New Bedford's economy for much of the century, and many families of the city were involved with it as crew and officers of ships. The Quakers remained prominent and influential in New Bedford throughout the whaling era. They brought religious values into their business models, promoting stability as well as prosperity, investing in infrastructure projects such as rail, and employing without discrimination. They established solid social and economic relationships with Boston, New York, and Philadelphia, integrating New Bedford into the urban north-eastern economy.

Ten thousand men worked in the whaling industry. During this period, New Bedford's population increased from approximately 4,000 in 1820 to about 24,000 in 1860. At the height of the whaling industry in 1857, the harbor hosted 329 vessels worth over $12 million, and New Bedford became the richest city per capita in North America.

On March 18, 1847, the town of New Bedford officially became a city; Abraham Hathaway Howland was elected its first mayor.

Land of Opportunity The Quakers of New Bedford applied their principles of egalitarianism and community-building in their businesses. On the boats, at the docks, at the factories, or in the shops—British, Wampanoag, Cape Verdean, Azorean, Irish, and West African hands found work in New Bedford.

New Bedford also became one of the first centres of abolitionism in North America, and an important stop on the Underground Railroad. Many people were attracted by New Bedford's relatively open-minded atmosphere. For example, Paul Cuffe—an Ashanti-Wampanoag Quaker and self-made tycoon—among several other remarkable achievements earned black property owners in New Bedford the right to vote decades before Abraham Lincoln even signed the Emancipation Proclamation. Lewis Temple, an African-American blacksmith, invented the Temple toggle iron, which was the most successful harpoon design. Frederick Douglass, the famous social reformer and orator, also found amnesty in New Bedford and worked at the wharf for three years.

Whaling decline The whaling industry went into decline after the 1859 discovery of petroleum in Pennsylvania. Each decade since then saw a gradual decrease in whaling work, activity, and revenue. During the Civil War, the Confederacy engaged in commerce raiding with ships such as the Alabama, the Florida, and the Shenandoah, trying to attack the Yankee whaling industry and sabotage the US economy. Additionally, the US federal government bought several inactive whalers, filled them with stones, sand, and dirt, and towed them to Charleston, South Carolina, where the Union Navy sank what became known as the Stone Fleet in an unsuccessful attempt to blockade the Confederate bay. Along with the poor business and low whale populations, this dealt a potent blow to a failing industry.

Textile industry In the midst of this decline, greater New Bedford's economy became more dependent on the textile industry, which began to eclipse the whaling industry in the late 19th century. The mills grew and expanded constantly, eventually comprising multiple sites along the Acushnet River. In 1875 alone, the Wamsutta Mills processed 19,000 bales of cotton into 20 million yards of cloth, which had a wholesale value comparable to that of the entire whaling catch, and continued to produce over 20 million yards of cloth yearly after 1883. The Wamsutta Mills remained the world's largest weaving plant until 1892.

The textile mills redefined wealth in New Bedford, and gave birth to a prosperity greater than that of the whaling industry. New Bedford, funded by industrial fortunes, developed a thriving art scene. The Mount Washington Glass Company (which later became Pairpoint) crafted works of glass and silver for the newly affluent class, and examples of these works can be seen today on the second floor of the New Bedford Whaling Museum.

In the 1920s, local employers came under competitive pressure from new textile factories in the low-wage South. In April 1928 their demand for a 10 percent across the board cut in wages was met with strike action. After considerable controversy control of the large-scale work stoppage passed from the Communist-led Textile Mill Committee (TMC) to sundry craft unions affiliated with the American Federation of Labor who, agreeing to a five percent wage cut, ended the strike in October. Wage reductions were not enough to arrest the long-term competitive decline of the local textile industry.

Immigration Until 1800, New Bedford and its surrounding communities were, by and large, populated by Protestants of English, Scottish, Welsh, and Dutch origin. During the first half of the 19th century many Irish people came to Massachusetts. In 1818, Irish immigrants established the Catholic mission that built St. Mary's Church. Later in that century, immigrants from Portugal and its colonial possessions in the Atlantic—Cape Verde, the Azores, and Madeira—began arriving in New Bedford and the surrounding area, attracted by jobs in the whaling industry; many had family members who had worked on whaling ships. As the Portuguese community began to increase in population, it established the first Portuguese parish in the city, St. John the Baptist (1871). French Canadians also secured a foothold in New Bedford at about the same time, and they built the Church of the Sacred Heart in 1877.

Similarly, Polish immigrants began arriving in the late 19th century and established the parish of Our Lady of Perpetual Help in 1903. A number of Jewish families, arriving in the late 19th century, were active in the whaling industry, selling provisions and outfitting ships. During the years leading up to the First World War, a sizable eastern-European Jewish community joined them in New Bedford. Some became prominent merchants and businessmen, mainly in textiles and manufacturing.

Modern history Fishing and manufacturing continue to be two of the largest businesses in the area, and healthcare has become a major employer. The three largest single employers based in New Bedford are Southcoast Hospitals Group, one of the top ten employers in Massachusetts (healthcare), Titleist (golf clubs, balls, apparel, manufacturing), and Riverside Manufacturing (apparel manufacturing).

According to a 2001 study by the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth Center for Policy Analysis, the three largest employment sectors in the Greater New Bedford area (the area includes New Bedford and Acushnet, Dartmouth, Fairhaven, Freetown, Lakeville, Marion, Mattapoisett, Rochester, and Wareham) were as follows: services (26% of total employment); wholesale trade (22%); manufacturing (19%). The largest industries by employment in the area were as follows: health services, eating and drinking places, wholesale trade, food stores, and social services.

In 2002, the city received $61,194,358 in taxation revenue, $44,536,201 in local receipts, and $12,044,152 classified as other available.

In 2005 the unemployment rate was 7.3%, having dropped throughout the 1990s from 12.5% to 5.3% in 2000, and then having risen to 10.4% in 2003. By 2009, in the midst of the economic crisis of the era, the unemployment rate got as high as 12.4%.

In 2005, the city received $104,925,772 for education, and $22,755,439 for general government from the State of Massachusetts.

In 2016, the city hopes its proximity to Massachusetts' southern coastline will allow it to become a centre for the growing wind energy market. Three companies, OffshoreMW, Deepwater Wind, and DONG Energy, have leased portions of New Bedford's Marine Commerce Terminal for the staging of turbines and platforms.

Establishments In 1847, the New Bedford Horticultural Society was begun by James Arnold.

The Ash Street Jail, which houses inmates from Bristol County, is located in New Bedford. It opened in 1829 and is the oldest continuously operating jail in the United States.

Fort Taber and Fort Rodman (also called the "Fort at Clark's Point") were built during the American Civil War and are now in Fort Taber Park. Both forts are often called Fort Taber, including in some references.

Geography According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 24.1 square miles (62.5 km²). Of the total area, 20.0 square miles (51.8 km²) is land, and 4.1 square miles (10.7 km²), or 17.13%, is water. New Bedford is a coastal city, a seaport, bordered on the west by Dartmouth, on the north by Freetown, on the east by Acushnet and Fairhaven, and on the south by Buzzards Bay. From New Bedford's northern border with Freetown to the Buzzards Bay coast at Clark's Point the distance is approximately 14 miles (23 km). Across New Bedford east to west is a distance of about 2 miles (3.2 km). The highest point in the city is an unnamed hill crossed by Interstate 195 and Hathaway Road west of downtown, with an elevation greater than 180 feet (55 m) above sea level.

The Port of New Bedford, also known as New Bedford Harbor, a body of water shared with Fairhaven, is actually the estuary of the Acushnet River where it empties into Buzzards Bay. The river empties into the bay beyond Clark's Point, the southernmost point of the city. To the west of Clark's Point is Clark's Cove, which extends landward approximately one and a half mile from the bay. Just south of Palmer's Island, beginning near Fort Phoenix in Fairhaven, lies a two-mile-long hurricane barrier, constructed in the 1960s to protect the inner harbor where the fishing fleet anchors. Along with Palmer's Island, the city also lays claim to Fish Island and Pope's Island. Between these two islands lies one of the three sections, the central section, of the New Bedford-Fairhaven Bridge. The central span, a swing bridge, connects the two islands as well as allowing boats and ships passage to the upper harbor. Two conventional bridges connect each of the islands to the nearest mainland, Fish Island to New Bedford and Pope's Island to Fairhaven. In addition to the harbor, there are several small brooks and ponds within the city limits.

Parks There are several parks and playgrounds, some with splash pads, scattered throughout the city, with the first four being primary parks: • Abolition Row Park • Acushnet Cedar Swamp State Reservation • Allen C. Haskell Public Gardens • Ashley Park • Baby Kenney Tot Lot • Brooklawn Park • Buttonwood Park • Captain Jack Peterson Dog Park • Clasky Common Park • Custom House Square • Flora B. Pierce Nature Trail • Fort Rodman/Taber Park • Hazelwood Park • Marine Park at Pope's Island • New Bedford Covewalk • New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park • Ricketson's Nature Trail • River's End Park • Riverside Park • Roberto Clemente Park • Ross C. Mathieu Nature Trail • Victory Park Community Gardens.

Economy While accurate figures are hard to come by, tourism appears to be a growing industry. New Bedford tourism centres on fairs and festivals including the Folk Festival, Whaling City Festival, Fourth of July, Jazzfest, Working Waterfront Festival, Polish Fest, New Bedford Day of Portugal, Senhor Da Pedra feast, Holy Ghost of Pico feast, and the Portuguese Feast of the Blessed Sacrament (the largest Portuguese cultural celebration in the nation). Tourism also focuses on the historic whaling industry, and the New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park is the only national park unit that focuses on the whaling industry's impact on the history of the United States. The Buttonwood Park Zoo features various species, including two Asian Elephants, Emily and Ruth, the only ones in New England.

Driven in part by increased tourism, a Fairfield Inn and Suites hotel opened in New Bedford in late May 2010, on the edge of the city's harbor. This became the first hotel in the city to open in over 40 years, though it is well-supplied with bed and breakfast establishments. A secondary hotel, New Bedford Harbor Hotel, opened during the summer of 2018.

Economy: Fishing Despite the historical decline of fishing and whaling in New England, New Bedford continues to be a leading fishing port. From 1999 to 2019, New Bedford has been the most valuable commercial fishing port in the United States. In 2019 the port’s catch was worth a total of $451 million. Although New Bedford only brought in the 14th largest total volume of fish among American ports in 2019, its catch was still the highest-grossing because scallops accounted for 84% of the port’s annual fishing revenue. Dutch Harbor, Alaska, has the highest volume, at 763 million pounds, worth $182 million.

Transport: Water The Port of New Bedford is a major harbor for freight and passenger services, generating over $9.8 billion in economic value annually. The port serves as a break-bulk handler of perishable items, including fruit, fish, and a variety other cargo. The port is also a frequent stop for cruise ships, expecting an upwards of thirty cruise ship calls in 2006. One public and several private marinas offer limited transient dockage for recreational boats.

A handful of private ferry services also originate from New Bedford. One such company, SeaStreak, offers catamaran fast ferry service to Oak Bluffs and Vineyard Haven, both in Martha's Vineyard, as well as Nantucket. A separate passenger line, the Cuttyhunk Ferry Company, runs scheduled ferry services from New Bedford to Cuttyhunk Island. The neighboring town of Fall River is served by seasonal services to Newport and Block Island, both in the state of Rhode Island. The history of ferry service from New Bedford dates back to May 15, 1818, when a steamboat entitled The Eagle carried six hundred passengers across the Nantucket Sound.

New Bedford has historically been a major city for whaling and commercial fishing, and remains an important site for the latter to this day. As of 2020, the Port of New Bedford is the number one fishing port in the United States, in terms of dollar value of catch. New Bedford fisherman landed 124 million pounds of fish in 2015, valued at $322 million, and the fishing industry accounts for the vast majority of the Port's annual economic value.

Transport: Air New Bedford Regional Airport (EWB), a towered Class D airport offering two 5,400-foot (1,600 m) runways and a precision Instrument Landing System, is located in the central portion of the city with easy access to major highways.

Frequent scheduled passenger service is provided to Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard by Cape Air and Southern Airways Express. As of 2020, New Bedford Regional Airport serves as the New England Fleet Base for Southern Airways Express, providing maintenance, storage, and offices for the airline.

In addition, the airport provides a wide range of general aviation and corporate jet services, including aircraft maintenance, fuel, and part 61 flight instruction.

Transport: Road Interstate 195 is the main freeway through central New Bedford, traveling from Providence, Rhode Island, to Wareham. Additionally, U.S. Route 6 runs from east to west through the city as well. US 6 leaves the city toward Cape Cod over the New Bedford-Fairhaven Bridge, a swing truss bridge, and the Popes Island Bridge. New Bedford also serves as the southern terminus of MA Route 140, which is a freeway that connects to MA Route 24 in Taunton on the road north to Boston. MA Route 18, the extension of the John F. Kennedy Memorial Highway (which travels through downtown), is a freeway for the short stretch connecting I-195 to US 6 and the port area.

Transport: Bus The city bus terminal offers local and long-distance bus connections. A free shuttle bus connects the bus terminal and the ferries. The Southeastern Regional Transit Authority (SRTA) provides bus service between the city, Fall River, and the surrounding regions.

Peter Pan Bus Lines makes a New Bedford stop on a New York City to Hyannis (Cape Cod) route. As of October 2006, private carrier DATTCO provides daily commuter bus service to Boston via Taunton.

Transport: Rail South Coast Rail is an ongoing project to build a new southern line of the MBTA Commuter Rail system along several abandoned and freight-only rail lines. The project will restore passenger rail service between Boston and the cities of Taunton, Fall River, and New Bedford, via the towns of Berkley and Freetown. Passenger service to the South Coast was originally provided by the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad until 1958; efforts to restore passenger rail service began in the 1980s. On March 15, 2017, MassDOT filed a notice of project change in order to advance South Coast Rail service serving both New Bedford and Fall River using the existing Middleborough/Lakeville Commuter Rail Line. After decades of false starts, construction began on July 2, 2019, with a projected cost of $1.047 billion. The South Coast Rail project is set to be completed by the end of 2023.

The Massachusetts Coastal Railroad provides freight rail service to New Bedford, terminating at the New Bedford Rail Yard in the port area. Several former rail yards and sidings are being restored as a part of the ongoing South Coast Rail project in order to facilitate future freight services in New Bedford. The Bay Colony Railroad, a shortline railroad, serves the Watuppa Branch which runs from New Bedford to Westport.

Education: University New Bedford is home to one of Fisher College's neighborhood campuses. Located on Church Street in the north end of the city, it serves adult learners from the greater New Bedford region and the surrounding communities of Taunton, Wareham, and Fall River. Bristol Community College has a satellite campus in Downtown New Bedford in the Star Store Building and 800 Purchase Street. Nearby Dartmouth is home to the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth campus, as well as the University of Massachusetts School of Law - Dartmouth, the first public law school in the state. The town hosts the marine campus of University of Massachusetts Dartmouth at Fort Rodman as well as its satellite visual art campus in the former Star Store building, downtown.

Bridgewater State University Aviation is based at the New Bedford Regional Airport. The program is one of the only Accredited Part 141 Collegiate Aviation Universities in New England. Bachelor of Science Degree's are offered in Flight Training and Aviation Management.

Additionally, The Greater New Bedford Regional Vocational-Technical High School offers Adult education classes.

Library The New Bedford public library was established in 1852. In fiscal year 2016, the City of New Bedford spent 0.78% ($2,012,820) of its budget on its public library system—approximately $21.20 per person, per year. • Main Library • Casa da Saudade (Portuguese branch) • Howland-Green Library • Lawler Library • Wilks Library • Bookmobile.

Media New Bedford is part of the Providence TV market but is the city of license for two TV stations; WLNE-TV Channel 6 is the ABC affiliate for the market, and WLWC Channel 28 is Court TV affiliate. The Portuguese Channel has its corporate offices and studios in the city at 638 Mount Pleasant Street in the Comcast building.

The city is home to three radio stations: FM stations WJFD-FM/97.3 (Portuguese-language) and WNBH-FM/101.3, and WNBH-AM/1340. All three have served the residents of New Bedford for many decades.

In 2021, the "New Bedford Light" (https://newbedfordlight.org) was created as a free non-profit digital news site, featuring investigative and enterprise reporting to augment what had been a local news media environment in decades-long decline.

The city is also served by the New Bedford Standard-Times and The Portuguese Times newspapers.

Culture: Museums New Bedford is the home of the New Bedford Whaling Museum, the centerpiece of the New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park. It is the country's largest museum on the subject of whaling and the history of interaction between humans and whales. The museum has the skeletons of a 66-foot (20 m)-long baby blue whale (obtained in 2000), a 35-foot (11 m)-long adult humpback whale (obtained in 1900), and a 45-foot (14 m)-long sperm whale (obtained in 2004) on display. All whales died in New England waters and were cleaned and assembled for display.

The Rotch-Jones-Duff House and Garden Museum is a 28-room Greek Revival mansion that was built for the whaling merchant, William Rotch Jr., in 1834. Between 1834 and 1981, three prominent families owned the house. It was restored by the Waterfront Historic Area LeaguE (WHALE) in the early 1980s and converted into the house museum it is today, chronicling 150 years of economic, social, and domestic life in New Bedford.

The New Bedford Fire Museum is housed in a red-brick building, formerly Fire Station No. 4, which opened in 1867. The fire station was one of the oldest continuously operating fire stations in the state when it was closed in 1979. The museum has a collection of old firefighting equipment and some old fire engines. Old city fire records dating to 1890 are available for research and review. Retired and active city firefighters act as docents.

The New Bedford Museum of Glass reflects the city's history as home of the Mount Washington and Pairpoint Glass companies. The museum's collection ranges from ancient to contemporary glass with a large focus on the glass of New England. A research library contains over eight thousand volumes on glass. The museum is located in one of the historic Wamsutta Mills textile factory buildings.

Historic districts New Bedford has nine historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places. They are: • Acushnet Heights Historic District • Buttonwood Park Historic District • Central New Bedford Historic District • County Street Historic District • Howland Mill Village Historic District • Merrill's Wharf Historic District • Moreland Terrace Historic District • New Bedford Historic District • North New Bedford Historic District.