Interior House Painter New Bedford MA

New Bedford, Massachusetts Accushnet
City
New Bedford Harbor
Seal Wordmark
Nickname:  The Whaling City
Motto(s):  Lucem Diffundo (Latin) “I Diffuse Light”
Location in Bristol County, Massachusetts
New Bedford Location in Massachusetts Show map of Massachusetts New Bedford Location in the United States Show map of the United States
Coordinates: 41°38′10″N 70°56′05″W / 41.63611°N 70.93472°W / 41.63611; -70.93472Coordinates: 41°38′10″N 70°56′05″W / 41.63611°N 70.93472°W / 41.63611; -70.93472
Country	United States
State	Massachusetts
County	Bristol
Settled	1652
Incorporated (town)	1787
Incorporated (city)	1847
Government
• Type	Mayor–council
• Mayor	Jonathan F. Mitchell
• City Council	Councilors-at-Large: Ian Abreu Shane A. Burgo Naomi R.A. Carney Brian K. Gomes Linda M. Morad Ward Councilors by Ward: William B. Markey Maria E. Giesta Hugh Dunn Derek Baptiste Scott J. Lima Ryan J. Pereira
• School Committee	Jonathan F. Mitchell Melissa M. Costa Christopher A. Cotter Colleen Dawicki Ross M. Grace Jr. Joaquim Livramento Bruce J. Oliveira
Area
• Total	24.13 sq mi (62.50 km)
• Land	20.00 sq mi (51.80 km2)
• Water	4.13 sq mi (10.70 km)
Elevation	50 ft (15 m)
Population  (2020)
• Total	101,079
• Density	5,053.70/sq mi (1,951.25/km2)
Time zone	UTC−5 (Eastern)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−4 (Eastern)
ZIP code	02740, 02744, 02745, 02746
Area code	508 / 774
FIPS code	25-45000
GNIS feature ID	0613714
Website	www.newbedford-ma.gov

New Bedford (Massachusett: Accushnet) is a city in Bristol County, Massachusetts, United States. It is located on the Acushnet River in what is known as the South Coast region. Up through the 17th century, the area was the territory of the Wampanoag Native American people. English colonists bought the land on which New Bedford would later be built from the Wampanoag in 1652, and the original colonial settlement that would later become the city was founded by English Quakers in the late 17th century. The town of New Bedford itself was officially incorporated in 1787.

During the first half of the 19th century, New Bedford was one of the world’s most important whaling ports. At its economic height during this period, New Bedford was the wealthiest city in the world per capita. New Bedford was also a center of abolitionism at this time. The city attracted many freed or escaped African-American slaves, including Frederick Douglass, who lived there from 1838 until 1841. The city also served 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.

As of the 2020 United States Census, New Bedford had a population of 101,079, making it the state’s ninth-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 southeastern 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 km) 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 centers, 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