New Bedford Historic District

Vorlage:Otheruses4 Vorlage:Infobox nrhp The New Bedford Historic District is a National Historic Landmark District in New Bedford, Massachusetts, United States, west of the community's waterfront. During the 19th century, when the city was the center of the American whaling industry, this was its downtown. While it went into decline in the early and mid-20th century, it has since been preserved and restored to appear much as it was during that period through the efforts of local activist groups.

The buildings within it were largely built between 1790 and 1855 by Russell Warren and other builders. The area features Greek Revival and Federal architecture. Many of them reflect the legacy of whaling in the city's development. It was designated a National Historic Landmark (NHL) and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1966. Later it was recognized as a local historic district and protected by local zoning. One building within it, the U.S. Customhouse, is the oldest such facility currently in use and has been itself recognized as an NHL. Since 1996 it has also been a part of New Bedford Whaling National Historic Park.

Geography

The district is bounded by Front Street on the east, Elm Street on the north, Acushnet Avenue and the Central New Bedford Historic District on the west, and Commercial Street on the south, an area that takes in 11 city blocks and part of a twelfth. On these 19.6 acres (7.9 ha) are 20 buildings, with some modern intrusions, mainly parking lots, a gas station and newer additions to the New Bedford Whaling Museum. The streets are paved with cobblestone and lit with gas lamps, both of which have been added since the historic district was designated, to better recreate the neighborhood's 19th-century appearance. The majority of the buildings are commercial in design and use, but there are some houses, and some mixed-use structures.

Map showing district boundaries

Just east of the district is the John F. Kennedy Expressway (MA 18), a limited-access highway which has become a barrier between it and the neighboring waterfront, still in use. Local preservationists have supported a plan to redesign the highway and restore access to the waterfront, without which the district would never have come to be. A $16.3 million grant has been given to the city to make this possible.

History

Rise as whaling center

New Bedford became a whaling port shortly after its settlement when Joseph Rotch moved to the area in 1765. He and Joseph Russell, a local landowner generally regarded as the city's founder, saw that it had a deep harbor that could receive seagoing vessels at docks. Nantucket, then the center of the American whaling industry, did not. Rotch and Russell attracted shipbuilders to the area, and soon one of their ships, the Dartmouth sailed from the city's docks. In 1767 it carried the first load of New Bedford whale oil to London. By the Revolution, there were 50 ships in the local fleet.

In 1778, the British Army burned the city in retaliation for the acts of local privateers. There was no loss of life since the inhabitants had fled, but 34 ships, 76 shops, 26 storehouses and 11 homes were destroyed. After independence, the city concentrated on rebuilding its major industry, and in 1791 the Rebecca set sail, becoming the first American whaler to harvest oil from the Pacific. Two decades later, the War of 1812 again took a toll on the industry, but it recovered again and by 1823 New Bedford's fleet equalled Nantucket's in tonnage. Four years later it had surpassed the island's in barrels.

As the city prospered in the following years, the buildings that currently make up the historic district were built. In the 1830s, Robert Mills designed the U.S. Customhouse, where whaling captains paid their tariffs and duties and filed necessary paperwork. Joseph Rotch's grandson William, now a wealthy man, built his mansion further inland. The Seamen's Bethel, built in 1832, became the traditional spot for sailors' services before departing for the deep oceans.

By 1840, New Bedford, able to connect to the growing railroad network, had displaced Nantucket as the country's top whaling port. The streets grew busier and the houses grander. In 1851 Herman Melville, who had lived in New Bedford a decade earlier, published his classic novel Moby-Dick, which began in New Bedford and mentioned locations like the Bethel and the houses. The New Bedford Institute for Savings (NBIS), now the National Park Service's visitor's center, was built in 1853.

North Water Street in early 1960s, prior to creation of historic district

Decline and historic preservation era

The industry peaked in 1857, when New Bedford accounted for half the U.S. whaling fleet. Growing competition from the new petroleum industry, and the impact of the Civil War, ensured that it would not recover as it had in the past. The Bethel was rebuilt after an 1867 fire, with a new exterior and an added tower. The NBIS building became a local courthouse, and the center of commercial activity in New Bedford moved west, where it has remained, as textiles became the city's dominant industry. The whaling museum was established in one of the old buildings in 1907. But ships lost at sea were not replaced as they had been before, and the last whaling voyage took place in 1925.

Some of the old whaling buildings were torn down to make way for new construction in the 20th century, or deteriorated. But the customs house remained in use, as did many of the buildings in its neighborhood. In the mid-1950s director John Huston came to town with Gregory Peck to film a scene from his adaptation of Moby-Dick in front of the Seamen's Bethel. Although it was the only scene in the film actually shot in the city, it sparked a resurgence of tourist interest in the city when it was released.

National Historic Landmark designation plaque on William Street

Citizens of New Bedford began to show interest in preserving and protecting the remnants of the city's whaling past. They formed the Waterfront Historic Area League (WHALE) in 1962. In 1966 the waterfront area was among the earliest National Historic Landmarks designated. Five years later, in 1971, WHALE succeeded in getting today's historic district designated as the Bedford Landing Waterfront Historic District. The city later enacted zoning regulations to preserve its character.

Thirty years later, Congress passed legislation creating New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park, commemorating the city's past. It included the entire historic district within its boundaries, and the park service chose the old NBIS building as its visitors' center. In 2008, WHALE turned over the neighboring Corson Building, built 1875-84, to the Park Service, which it had renovated after a 1997 fire. Plans call for it to be used for educational purposes related to the park, with a 60-seat theater, archival space, seminar room, and similar features.

Significant contributing properties

Seamen's Bethel

U.S. Customhouse

Several of the district's properties are notable. Two have been added to the National Register in their own right, and one of those is a National Historic Landmark.

• Mariner's Home. The oldest building in the district, this Federal style stone structure dates to 1790. It was originally built as William Rotch's home, and moved to its present location from William and North Water streets.
• Samuel Rodman Candlehouse. This stone (later stucco) structure dates to 1810. One of the oldest commercial buildings in the district.
• Seamen's Bethel. White clapboard church first built in 1832 and mentioned (as Whalemen's Chapel) by Melville in Moby-Dick. Redesigned and expanded after 1867 fire.
• Mechanics' Bank and Merchants' Bank Building. Warren-designed bank building along North Water Street with Ionic columns in facade was first Greek Revival

Preservation

The City of New Bedford maintains the historic character of the district through its zoning, a condition of the state historic-district designation. WHALE has also been active in applying for grants and raising money to restore individual properties within the district.

External links

• Waterfront Area Historic LEague (WHALE) site

Commons: New Bedford Historic District – Sammlung von Bildern, Videos und Audiodateien