Attractions
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New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park
Visitor Center
33 William St.
(508) 996-4095
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Every trip to New Bedford
should start at this 1853 Greek Revival
structure, which served as a bank and
courthouse before becoming a visitor center
for the national park Congress created in
1996. A short distance from the Elm Street
parking garage, the visitor center offers
self-guided walking tour maps and seasonal
tours by park personnel.
Open daily
9 am – 5 pm
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New Bedford Whaling Museum
19 Johnny Cake Hill
(508) 997-0046
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 America’s
largest whaling museum is the centerpiece of
New Bedford’s historic downtown, telling the
story of New Bedford surpassing Nantucket in
the 1800s to become the world’s leading
whaling port. The museum holds large whale
skeletons, goods New Bedford whalers brought
back from their travels and memorabilia
revealing Herman Melville’s ties to the
city. Elaborate scrimshaw carvings sailors
made to pass the time and whaling logs with
stamps tracking catch are also on display,
along with memorabilia from New Bedford life
back home, such as a fine wooden clock made
by Josiah Wood at his 19th century shop.
Another highlight is the Lagoda,
an 89-foot, half-scale whaler model.
As for
other attractions, see the defunct New
Bedford Glass Museum's collection or stop a
few blocks away on Purchase Street, where
the museum's research library has thousands
of whaling logs among other materials.
Open daily 9 am - 5 pm
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Buttonwood Park Zoo
425 Hawthorne St.
(508) 991-6178
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 New
Bedford’s zoo enchants with a sensational
animal lineup of harbor seals, river otters,
bison, bears and Asian elephants in a
97-acre park planned by architect Frederick
Law Olmstead.
Open daily 10 am - 5 pm
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Rotch-Jones-Duff House and Garden Museum
396 County St.
(508) 997-1401
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 Built
for Nantucket whaling merchant William Rotch
Jr. in 1834, this exquisite mansion survives
to tell the tale of the trade’s high riches
and severe fall. Architect Richard Upjohn,
designer of Boston’s Trinity Church,
lavishly laid out the Greek Revival
structure and its gardens to stand out amid
New Bedford’s burgeoning wealth and it
shines even brighter a century later.
An
interesting note is William Rotch Jr.’s
shipping links to the start and end of the
American Revolution. His uncle, Francis
Rotch, held a large interest in the ship
Dartmouth,
which was raided during the Boston Tea Party
in 1773. And ten years later when peace was
declared, William Rotch Jr.’s ship
Bedford was
the first American vessel to sail into a
British port waving the American flag.
Rotch’s home was sold to
fellow Nantucket whaler Edward Jones Coffin
in 1850 and his family lived there until
businessman Mark Duff purchased it in 1936.
The Waterfront Historic Area League (WHALE)
bought the property in 1981 to save it from
redevelopment.
Open Mon.- Sat. 10 am - 4 pm,
Sun. noon - 4 pm
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Hon.
Joseph Grinnell Mansion
379 County St.
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Joseph
Grinnell built this striking granite mansion in
his hometown in 1830, after returning from New
York, where he co-founded a successful trading
business called Fish, Grinnell and Co. Made of
Quincy granite, the structure was designed by
architect Russell Warren to have two floors
protected by four Doric columns. A Grinnell heir
later added the third floor.
But two
floors were enough for Grinnell and U.S.
President John Quincy Adams. Grinnell was
elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in
1843 and served alongside Adams, who had left
the Oval Office by then and was in the middle of
his 17-year run in Congress when he visited
Grinnell’s home in 1840s. U.S. President Abraham
Lincoln also visited Grinnell’s mansion in 1848
while serving his lone term in the U.S. House of
Representatives.
Grinnell
holds an affectionate spot in New Bedford’s
history for steering Wamsutta Mill’s first
cotton cloth manufacturing plant to the city at
a time when jobs were in high demand due to the
fall of whaling. |
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Seamen’s Bethel
15 Johnny Cake
Hill
(508) 992-3295
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 With
no steeple but a place to gather, it’s among
the city’s simplest buildings. But few sites
have brought more outsiders to New Bedford than the Seamen’s Bethel.
Author Herman Melville
brought the Seamen’s Bethel great fame in
his 1851 book, “Moby-Dick,” writing, “In the
same New Bedford there stands a Whaleman’s
Chapel, and few are the moody fishermen,
shortly bound for the Indian Ocean or the
Pacific, who failed to make a Sunday visit
to the spot. I am sure that I did not.”
The fame came less than 20
years after the New Bedford Port Society
opened the non-denominational house of
worship on May 2, 1832 to support seamen
through their difficult work. One wall has
21 empty tombs hanging from it, listing the
names of men lost to sea on whaling voyages
out of New Bedford. Melville, who never
lived in New Bedford but was known to visit
his sister at her Madison Street home, has
an honorary pew.
Like its exterior, the
Seamen’s Bethel is simple on the inside,
with dark polished and white-painted wooden
pews and balconies. The front features a
pulpit added in 1961. The 1956 movie
“Moby-Dick,” starring Gregory Peck,
portrayed the church as having a pulpit, as
Melville described in his book, even though
the fixture didn’t exist. It was added
because the crowds that came to New Bedford
following the movie expressed disappointment
over its absence.
Open Memorial Day – Columbus
Day, Mon. – Fri., 10 am – 4 pm
Closed weekends year-round
for private services
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U.S. Custom House
37 North Second St.
(508) 994-5158
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 This
1836 Greek Revival structure is the oldest
continuously operating custom house in
America. It housed both custom operations
and the city’s first post office early on
and today continues registering boats under
the same roof as the National Marine
Fisheries Service and the National Park
Service.
The granite building was
designed by Robert Mills and opened for
business the year the 29-year-old was named
the “First Federal Architect,” by President
Andrew Jackson. Mills finished his career
having designed the Washington Monument and
the federal patent, U.S. Treasury and
International Trade Commission buildings in
the nation’s capital.
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Nathan and Mary Johnson House
17-19 and 21 Seventh St.
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Nineteenth century New
Bedford readily greeted black slaves seeking
freedom and Nathan and Mary Johnson’s home
was one of the best-known abolitionist
havens. But in Sept. 1838, the
African-American couple welcomed a very
special slave into their home: Frederick
Johnson.
Frederick Johnson was so
grateful to his hosts he gave Nathan Johnson
the privilege of renaming him and from then
on, was known as Frederick Douglass.
Douglass stayed in New
Bedford for five years until 1843 and his
wife Anna gave birth to two children here.
Douglass spoke out for freedom here and
assisted other slaves, but made his most
visible strides in later years. He was sought
out for counsel by several American
presidents and served posts like U.S.
minister to Haiti, hoping to clear the way
for other blacks.
His message was so effective
because he pushed for equality for all,
including women and other races.
“I am not only an American
slave, but a man, and as such, am bound to
use my powers for the welfare of the whole
human brotherhood,” he wrote to William
Lloyd Garrison in a Feb. 26, 1846 letter.
The Johnsons’ former
properties are now privately owned, but 21
Seventh St., where Douglass stayed, is
listed on the National Register for Historic
Places and owned by the New Bedford
Historical Society, which educates the
public about the abolitionist movement.
Douglass’ work to free slaves
is now celebrated at a national park at the
home he named Cedar Hill in Washington D.C.
New Bedford continues to celebrate his work
as well. The Frederick Douglass Monument
hangs on the William Street entrance to the
City Hall lawn. The church he attended in
New Bedford was also renamed the Frederick
Douglass Memorial African Methodist Zion
Church. Today, it’s occupied by Gallery X.
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City Hall,
133 William St., City Clerk (508) 979-1450
New Bedford Free Public
Library, 613 Pleasant St. (508) 991-6275
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These buildings are connected
because City Hall was built in the mid-1800s
as the library, but suffered severe damage
in a 1906 fire, prompting the city to renovate and switch the two
buildings. City Hall’s custom-designed Otis
elevator still relies on manual operation
and always draws attention. The library
holds extensive material about the city’s
whaling history and has the world’s third
largest collection of American whaling
materials.
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New Bedford Art Museum
608 Pleasant St.
(508) 961-3072
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This decade-old museum is a
local treasure, showing art past and present
that contemplates the region's whaling and
nautical ties. Work comes from local
artists, loans from the New Bedford Whaling
Museum and other institutions and is sure to
enchant.
Open Labor Day - Memorial Day
Wed. - Sun., noon - 5 pm
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Rodman Candleworks
72 North Water St.
(508) 997-1294
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 Samuel Rodman built this factory
about 1810 and it thrived as a spermaceti candle
operation through the Whaling Era. Today, it
houses one of the city’s most popular
restaurants. |
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Bourne
Counting House
1 Merrill’s Wharf
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 Though
built in 1843 by Capt. Edward Merrill, this
waterfront structure takes its name from
Jonathan Bourne Jr., a whaling merchant who
filled rooms counting the goods his ships
brought home. A later tenant was Durant Sail
Loft, which made its last sails for
the square-rigged Charles W. Morgan.
The vessel is a National Historic Landmark
shown at the Mystic Seaport Museum in Conn.,
famous for being one of the last wooden
whalers from the industry's heyday.
Bourne, namesake of the
nearby Cape Cod community, provided the
funding for the New Bedford Whaling Museum
through his estate. Initially formed in
1903 as the Old Dartmouth Historical
Society, the group later became known as the
Bourne Whaling Museum and now the New
Bedford Whaling Museum. Bourne remains tied
to the institution through the half-size
model of the Lagoda,
believed to be the merchant’s favorite
whaling vessel.
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Museum
of Madeiran Heritage
27 Hope St.
(508) 994-2573
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This museum honors New
Bedford’s deep Portuguese roots by
celebrating the island of Madeira, which
sits 600 miles southwest of Portugal.
New Bedford has the largest
Madeiran community in the United States, a
link forged in the 1800s when the city's
whaling ships visited the island. This
museum holds a “carro de bois,” a canopied
carriage that bulls carry across cobblestone
streets, folkdance costumes and detailed
topographical maps of the island. The museum
is sponsored by the Club Madeirense SS.
Sacramento, Inc., which also co-sponsors the
city’s annual Feast of the Blessed
Sacrament, the world’s largest Portuguese
feast.
Open Sun. 10 am -
4 pm
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New Bedford Waterfront
Waterfront Visitors Center
52 Fisherman’s Wharf
Old City Pier #3
(508) 979-1745
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New Bedford Lightship
Floating off Commonwealth
Electric Pier, next to Global’s Marine
Terminal
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The lightship built in 1930
never protected boats in New Bedford harbor,
arriving after it was decommissioned from 40
years of service. That service included
watches off Fire Island, NY; North Carolina;
Pollack Rip, about nine miles off Chatham
and a two-year stint as the Lightship
Portland off the Maine coast.
The Coast Guard sent the
lightship to New Bedford in 1975 with the
understanding it would be converted to a
museum. It was listed on the National
Register of Historic Places in 1980, but
lack of follow through and poor upkeep has
put the vessel’s future in question. The
lightship is significant because it’s one of
a dozen or so still in existence and was the
first to travel 5,000 miles from Portland,
Ore. to New York, via the Panama Canal. For
now, a great place for viewing is the
hurricane barrier accessible from Fort
Phoenix in Fairhaven.
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| Lighthouses |
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Palmer’s Island Light |
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 Built in 1849, the lighthouse
sits on a 6-acre island in New Bedford
harbor. The island was used as an interment
camp during the King Philip War, with the
Indian leader's wife and son believed to be
among the prisoners.
The island was home to hotels
and an amusement park in the 1800s. The last
hotel burned down in 1905, leaving the
lighthouse as the island’s main attraction.
The lighthouse was deactivated in the 1960s
and arsons destroyed the tower’s interior
and lantern a few years later. The city retained control of
the island in 1978 and it sat dark until
1999, when the damaged lantern was replaced.
The lighthouse was relit in a ceremony Aug.
30, 1999, nearly 150 years after its first
lighting. Like the New Bedford Lightship,
it's best viewed from the hurricane barrier
accessible from Fort Phoenix in Fairhaven.
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Butler Flats Lighthouse
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 Though
set out in water, Butler Flats Light
couldn’t be closer to the community’s heart.
The light built in 1898 for $34,000 replaced
Clark’s Point Light. Though briefly painted
red, boaters all know it as a white beacon.
Built in 1898, the lighthouse
was visible for five miles during its 80
years of operation. Twenty years after its
decommissioning, the city relit the beacon
in 1998 for its 100th
anniversary. It can be viewed from East
Rodney French Boulevard.
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Clark’s Point Light
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 Reactivated in 2001 after
more than a century out of use, Clark’s
Point Light is now central to the city’s
revitalization plan for Fort Taber.
The light station was first
established in 1797 by local merchants, but
the first stand-alone wooden tower burnt
down about a year later. It was rebuilt and
reactivated in 1799 and the federal
government took over operation in 1800. Fire
struck again in 1803, forcing the light to be
rebuilt a third time. It operated without
problem until the 1850s, when Fort Taber was
erected to fight the Civil War and blocked
it from the harbor. A fourth square-shaped
wooden lighthouse was built on the fort in
1869 and the stand-alone tower stood idle
until it was demolished in 1906.
The Clark’s Point Light was
deactivated altogether in 1898 when Butler
Flats Lighthouse was lit and was dormant
until 2001, when it was decided to rebuild
it on Fort Taber, as part of the city’s
improvements for the area.
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Schooner Ernestina
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 This
1800s schooner first saw water off Essex,
Mass. and sailed the world as the ship Effie M. Morrissey.
The boat came under the Navy’s command in
the 1940s, then was sold to a private owner.
But its new life came to a halt in 1947 when
fire struck in Flushing, New York. Three
years later, Henrique Mendes of Cape Verde
purchased it and returned it back to sea. It
opened as a sailing school and living history museum in New
Bedford in 1986.
The schooner is often out to
sea, but visitors won’t be disappointed. The area in front of the ship is
a park where visitors can view the Col.
George Claghorn memorial. Claghorn moved his
family to Boston from 1794 – 1797 to build
the U.S.S. Constitution, the Navy’s oldest
commissioned warship.
Dedicated in 1936 by the
Daughters of the American Revolution, this
monument commemorates Col. George Claghorn,
a Revolutionary war patriot, naval constructor, and master shipwright, who
owned a shipping operation on the waterfront
during the late 1790s and early 1800s.
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Fort
Taber Military Museum
1000 South Rodney French Boulevard
(508) 994-3938
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 Set
on a remote peninsula, the Fort Taber Military
Museum tells the story of the adjacent Civil War
fort. The restored Clark's Point Light sits atop
the fort, known as both Fort Taber and Fort
Rodman, and paved bike paths circle the land,
leading out to an extended landing providing
views of Butler Flats Lighthouse. The area has
been revamped to provide recreation near the
city's wastewater treatment plant.
Open Wed., Fri., Sat. and Sun., 1
pm - 4 pm, but calling ahead is strongly advised |
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