New Bedford, Massachusetts

New Bedford is a city in Bristol County, Massachusetts, United States.

As of 2010, the city had a total population of 95,072, making it the sixth-largest city in

Massachusetts. New Bedford is nicknamed "The Whaling City" because during the 19th

century, the city was one of the most important, if not the most important, whaling ports in the

world, along with Nantucket, Massachusetts and New London, Connecticut.  The city, along

with Fall River and Taunton, make up the three largest cities in the South Coast region of

Massachusetts. The Greater Providence-Fall River-New Bedford area is home to the

largest Portuguese-American community in the United States.

Before the 17th century, the Wampanoag, who had settlements throughout southeastern Massachusetts and Rhode Island, including Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket, were the only inhabitants of the lands along the Acushnet River. Their population is believed to have been about 12,000. While exploring New England, Bartholomew Gosnold landed on Cuttyhunk Island on May 15, 1602. From there, he explored Cape Cod and the neighboring areas, including the site of present-day New Bedford. However, rather than settle the area, he returned to England at the request of his crew.

Europeans first settled New Bedford in 1652. English Plymouth Colony settlers purchased the land from chief Massasoit of the Wampanoag tribe. Whether the transfer of the land was legitimately done has been the subject of intense controversy. Like other native tribes, the Wampanoags did not share the settlers' concepts of private property. The tribe may have believed they were granting usage rights to the land, not giving it up permanently.

The settlers used the land to build the colonial town of Old Dartmouth (which encompassed not only present-day Dartmouth, but also present-day New Bedford, Acushnet, Fairhaven, and Westport). 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 in 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 already been incorporated by 1787; hence "New" Bedford.)

The late-18th century was a time of growth for the town. New Bedford's first

newspaper, The Medley (also known as 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.)

In 1847 the town of New Bedford officially became a city; Abraham Hathaway Howland was elected its first mayor. At approximately the same time, New Bedford began to supplant Nantucket as the nation's preeminent whaling port, thanks to its deeper harbor and location on the mainland. Whaling dominated the economy of the city for much of the century. Many families of the city were involved with it as crew and officers of ships.

North Congregational Church, Purchase Street, 1906

Until 1800, New Bedford and its surrounding communities were, by and large, populated by Protestants of English, Scottish, and Welsh 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 dependent territories of the Azores, Cape Verde, 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, they 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.

New Bedford and its textile industry garnered national headlines in 1928 when it was

hit with a strike of 30,000 workers. The walkout of mostly immigrant workers was given critical

support by the Workers (Communist) Party and was the precursor of a more

tumultuous textile strike in North Carolina held the following year.

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.

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 1960's 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.

There are several parks and playgrounds located throughout the city, the largest being Brooklawn Park in the north end, Fort Taber Park (also referred to as Fort Rodman, the name of another fort built there) at Clark's Point, and Buttonwood Park, directly west of the downtown area near the Dartmouth town line.