New Bedford

With a short sail up Buzzard's Bay, we reached the historic (what else in New England) towns of New Bedford and Fairhaven.  Both made their mark on the world with whaling.  Although now generally accepted as a bad thing for the environment and especially the whales, many new products came about as a result of the hunt.  Not to mention the oil the whales provided to provide light much brighter and cleaner than candles.  The New Bedford logo of the era was "The city that lights the world" and indeed they did.  Many cultures have hunted whales from shore or near shore.  As the area was depleted of their whales, larger ships were required to range farther and farther away from home port.  Some of the wily and accomplished whalers from Nantucket new their prime was past and found the perfect spot in New Bedford with its well protected harbor, cheap land willing labor.  On the opposite shore of the Acushnet in Fairhaven is a completely different city but they also made their money in whaling.  Once oil was discovered and whaling was no longer economically feasible, New Bedford turned to textile mills and now the area is the home to the largest fishing fleet in the USA and second only to a port in China in the world.  Amazing what you can learn in museums and visitor's centers and friendly bartenders. We toured around one side of the river one day and the other the next.  Both towns had their own unique charm and were well worth the stops.

Just a tiny portion of the huge fleet of  fishing boats up and down the river
on both sides.  Of course, with all these boats comes a huge side industry to keep them
running and supplied.

We were moored on tiny Pope Island and this swing bridge was between
us and New Bedford.  It's always cool to see them working whether from
the water or from land.  Engineering marvels!

Old town in New Bedford has the original cobblestone roads so
pedestrian friendly but not so much for bikes.

Some of the old buildings now become shops and restaurants.

A common sight around the river were teams of whaleboat rowers.
It's bound to be good exercise for those on the oars.

This is a monument to Prince Henry the Navigator.  There is a huge
number of people of Portuguese decent.  As the whalers ranged all
over the world, they visited many countries for supplies and many
Portuguese sailors joined the crew the escape economic oppression.
They families would join them in a few years and the community grew.
Other countries with large groups were the Azoreans and Cape Verdans.

This church is in Herman Melville's novel "Moby Dick" as were many
other spots in New Bedford.  Some towns have "George Washington
slept here", New Bedford has Herman Melville.

A view of the old town and Acushnet River.

As the whaling industry was in decline, a forward looking citizen,
Emily Bourne, realized that the history and arts brought about through whaling
would be lost.  This building in brick was the original museum she built to honor
her father, Jonathan Bourne.  It housed an amazing collection of whaling artifacts and
stories including a 1/2 scale model of a whaling ship.

The new addition was added to house educational and art displays.

There are three whale skeletons suspended from the ceiling  in the
atrium.

The 1/2 scale ship.  The camera definitely didn't do it justice.

Hanging clothes inside is a thing in the rain!