The Central New Bedford Historic District is one of nine

historic district A historic district or heritage district is a section of a city which contains older buildings considered valuable for historical or architectural reasons. In some countries or jurisdictions, historic districts receive legal protection from cer ...

s in

New Bedford New Bedford (Massachusett: ) is a city in Bristol County, Massachusetts. 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 p ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' En ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

. The district encompasses the city's central business district, built up during the time in the late 19th century when

textile Textile is an Hyponymy and hypernymy, umbrella term that includes various Fiber, fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, Staple (textiles)#Filament fiber, filaments, Thread (yarn), threads, different #Fabric, fabric types, etc. At f ...

s had replaced

whaling Whaling is the process of hunting of whales for their usable products such as meat and blubber, which can be turned into a type of oil that became increasingly important in the Industrial Revolution. It was practiced as an organized industr ...

as the city's main industry. It is a rectangular area bounded by Acushnet Avenue and the older New Bedford Historic District on the east, School Street to the south, Middle Street on the north and 6th Street (and the County Street Historic District) in the west. It was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

in 1980.

Description and history

The city of New Bedford began as an agrarian community in the 17th century, and rose in the late 18th century to become the preeminent center of the whaling industry. This focused urban development near its waterfront, an area that is now represented by the New Bedford Historic District, a

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places liste ...

. When whaling began to decline in the mid-19th century, the city's economy turned to textiles, which resulted in a second commercial building boom, and the creation of the city's modern business district. This area is inland, south and west of the original whaling center. Its major roadways are 6th Street, running north–south, and Union Street, running east–west. Within the district are 79 buildings, mostly commercial or mixed-use, including New Bedford's city hall. A few older buildings are in the

Greek Revival The Greek Revival was an architectural movement which began in the middle of the 18th century but which particularly flourished in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, predominantly in northern Europe and the United States and Canada, but a ...

style Style is a manner of doing or presenting things and may refer to: * Architectural style, the features that make a building or structure historically identifiable * Design, the process of creating something * Fashion, a prevailing mode of clothing ...

, but most are either

Classical Revival Neoclassical architecture is an architectural style produced by the Neoclassical movement that began in the mid-18th century in Italy and France. It became one of the most prominent architectural styles in the Western world. The prevailing style ...

Romanesque Revival Romanesque Revival (or Neo-Romanesque) is a style of building employed beginning in the mid-19th century inspired by the 11th- and 12th-century Romanesque architecture. Unlike the historic Romanesque style, Romanesque Revival buildings tended to ...

, styles more common in the late 19th century. The principal cluster of municipal and civic buildings is located between Pleasant and 6th Streets at the northern end of the district. At the far north is the Post Office, a Classical Revival building designed by

Oscar Wenderoth Oscar Wenderoth (1871–1938) was an American architect who served as director of the Office of the Supervising Architect from 1912 to 1915. He is identified as the architect of many government buildings built during that period, including some l ...

and built in 1915. New Bedford City Hall occupies an entire city block between Elm and William Streets; it is a Renaissance Revival building built 1855–56, and greatly enlarged after a fire gutted the building in 1906. Immediately to its south, across William Street, is the Free Public Library, a cruciform Greek Revival building with a temple front; it was designed by Russell Warren and built in 1838–39, serving as the first city hall. Across 6th Street, behind the library, stands the Classical Revival Registry of Deeds, designed by Samuel C. Hunt and built in 1908–10.

References

Historic districts in Bristol County, Massachusetts National Register of Historic Places in New Bedford, Massachusetts New Bedford, Massachusetts Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Massachusetts {{BristolCountyMA-NRHP-stub

Description and history

See also

References