Jump to content

New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park

Coordinates: 41°38′08″N 70°55′24″W / 41.63556°N 70.92333°W / 41.63556; -70.92333
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

New Bedford Whaling
National Historical Park
New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park Visitor Center
New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park is located in Massachusetts
New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park
New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park is located in the United States
New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park
LocationNew Bedford, Massachusetts, United States
Coordinates41°38′08″N 70°55′24″W / 41.63556°N 70.92333°W / 41.63556; -70.92333
Area34 acres (14 ha)
Built1790–1855
ArchitectRobert Mills, Richard Upjohn, Russell Warren, others
Architectural styleFederal, Greek Revival, Italianate
Visitation273,862 (2011)
WebsiteNew Bedford Whaling National Historical Park
NRHP reference No.03000283
Added to NRHP1996

New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park is a United States National Historical Park in New Bedford, Massachusetts, and is maintained by the National Park Service (NPS). The park commemorates the heritage of the world's preeminent whaling port during the nineteenth century.

Established in 1996, the park encompasses 34 acres (fourteen hectares) dispersed over thirteen city blocks. It includes a visitor center, the New Bedford National Historic Landmark District, the New Bedford Whaling Museum, the Seamen's Bethel, the schooner Ernestina, and the Rotch–Jones–Duff House and Garden Museum.

The only properties owned by the NPS are the Visitor Center and the Corson Maritime Learning Center. The park is a historic district administered under a partnership between the NPS, the City of New Bedford and private building owners to preserve the historic landscapes, structures, and collections and promote research and educational programming associated with the history of whaling. The enabling legislation also established a formal affiliation with the Iñupiat Heritage Center in Utqiaġvik, Alaska, to commemorate the more than 2,000 whaling voyages from New Bedford to the Western Arctic. The city promotes visitation to the park through advertising that calls it "New England's real seaport", as opposed to Connecticut's Mystic Seaport Museum which is a collection of historic buildings and vessels moved from various other locations throughout the region.

Although the Whaleman Memorial is not within the park's boundaries, it is located only two blocks beyond its western boundary at the corner of William and Pleasant Streets in front of the New Bedford Public Library.

See also

[edit]
[edit]