Fairhaven

On the other side of the river is Fairhaven and a fair city it is.  We really enjoyed riding all over town and as we've found elsewhere,  people are fascinated by our accounts and our story of sailing this far from Florida.  Seems ironic when you consider their ancestors sailed the world.

This lighthouse stands at the mouth of the river.  I am sure it was a most
welcome sight for ships returning from years away from home with a
big payday awaiting them once the whale oil and bone was offloaded.

This is the opening in an extremely unique and ambitious project, a hurricane
wall that completely shuts off the river and it's town from deadly storms.
One boater we talked with said it was expensive but his insurance rates are
the lowest in New England.

This is one of many gargoyles on this huge church in Fairhaven.

A replica of a European Gothic cathedral is in the heart of Fairhaven.
It is the Unitarian Memorial Church dedicated in 1904.  Henry Rogers
grew up in Fairhaven then made his fortune in oil as a partner in Standard Oil.
He was quite generous to his hometown.  The church was a gift in memory
of  his mother, Mary Huddleston Rogers.

The buttressed walls were amazing.

This is the town hall, also a gift from Rogers.

And across the street is another gift, the library.

A huge schooner passing through the hurricane barrier.

Fairhaven from the water.

An industrious looking skyline.

Some of the fleet headed out to work.

You can walk the seawall and take a look at the gates in the wall.
These will swing shut in case of a storm.

This was a nice example of a boathouse from the heyday of the city
still in good shape.

The house in front.  Click to see the details around the windows and
the supports for the porch.

Whale wind vanes were not uncommon.

This stone house had to have been a challenge to build.

Joshua Slocum, the first sailor to solo circumnavigate restored
his famous boat Spray in Fairhaven across the street from this park.
The monument David is looking at is dedicated to him.  The larger
one is to Commodore Perry.

While living in Okinawa, we often visited John Mung beach but never
could find out who he was.  Mystery solved in Fairhaven!  He is the
first Japanese citizen to come to the US.  As a young man, he and his
companions were rescued by a whaling ship from Fairhaven after
they lost their boat in a storm.  The friends were dropped off in the Sandwich
Islands (now Hawaii) but Manjiro went on to the US.  The Americans
had trouble pronouncing his name so called him John Mung.  This is the
school where he went once he arrived.  He became a scholar and emissary
between the USA and Japan.

Fairhaven High School was also a gift.  A very imposing building
might intimidate even the toughest teen.