Steeped in history, New Bedford, Massachusetts, and the neighboring town of Fairhaven offer the authentic grit of a busy fishing port plus the charm of a small New England town. by Malerie Yolen-Cohen photography by Joanne Pearson
Just outside the massive hurricane barrier in New Bedford, Massachusetts, Buzzards Bay is fraught with lobster traps, some with buoys so small you can hardly make them out till something goes wrong. I was sailing with Chuck Mitchell—owner of the 36-foot Catalina Carpe Diem—and some friends one breezy summer Sunday, when all of a sudden our brisk pace slowed to a sluggish crawl. We quickly furled the sail so that Chuck could take a dunk to ascertain the problem.
This gave me time to drink in my surroundings—thankfully figuratively—seeing from offshore what I had toured on foot. I had been in the area a few days, and this sail in Buzzards Bay was the icing on the cake of an intriguing, historical, epicurean and somewhat wacky visit to New Bedford and the neighboring town of Fairhaven.
Chuck quickly unhooked an evil trap line from his propeller, unfurled the sail and off we raced—just a little drama in a bay and harbor oozing with bigger stories and superlative tales.
New Bedford was built on superlatives. It was the wealthiest city in the country—twice—going through two glorious booms and painful busts in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. In the 1800s the city was the financial center of the whaling industry, and in the early 1900s it led the country in textile production. Now after some very rocky years in the mid- and late twentieth century, New Bedford's future is looking bright again.
We sailed around for a while, then headed to the Fairhaven Shipyard on the eastern side of New Bedford Harbor where Chuck keeps his boat. As we slipped through the hurricane barrier's 150-foot-wide, tar-colored mechanical gates and entered the harbor, I could feel the wind drop by at least half. The gates are massive, but the barrier itself, which was built in the 1960s after several bad storms nearly wiped out the city, stops just short of being four miles long. With its 26-foot rise above high tide, the barrier is the Northeast's version of the Great Wall of China and is the largest manmade stone structure in the eastern United States. It's an imposing feature—one that is impossible to miss and highly attractive to commercial and recreational sailors who keep their boats within its protective walls.
As we motored through the harbor, I could see the lovely homes of Fairhaven to the east, the Route 6 swing bridge (built in 1905, and now on the National Register of Historic Places) to the north and the working waterfront of New Bedford to the west. In the center, several small islands created an intimate enclosure. Dozens of trawlers and clammers lay six deep at the New Bedford wharves, and scallop boats, their unpainted rear hulls rusty with use, swung at moorings.
I'd begun my tour of New Bedford a few days earlier at Pope's Island Marina. It's situated by the swing bridge on an island between New Bedford and Fairhaven—a perfect stepping-off point for a person on foot who wanted to explore both towns. Marty Manley has been running Pope's Island Marina since it was constructed in 1993. This personable talker was a scalloper for 38 years before he was appointed director of harbor development for the city of New Bedford. Ten years ago the whaling city was still on the fringe of tawdry, and plans for a marina on Pope's Island were met with outright skepticism. Today, there are not enough slips for the burgeoning numbers of seasonal boaters who want to dock and moor there. The Whaling City Launch Service—with moorings just off Pope's Island Marina—provides harbor tours and water taxi service throughout the harbor. Captain Jeff Pontiff, the launch company's president, says he plans to increase the number of moorings to 30 by next summer. A quarter of them will be reserved for transients.
I decided to explore the New Bedford waterfront first (a 15- minute walk over the bridge from Pope's Island) starting with the Waterfront Visitor's Center located in the Wharfinger Building. The small brick structure, built in 1935, was where the frantic New Bedford fish auction took place. I heard tales of devious dealings by fishermen who tried to get their fish to market first in the mornings. By the 1980s, computers had taken over, and now the auction is conducted on the internet. The Wharfinger building sits on Fisherman's Pier alongside several fishing boats, the Whaling City Launch and the Alert II, a 65-person excursion boat that makes daily trips to Cuttyhunk Island, about 12 nautical miles to the south.
"Tourists come to New Bedford to see the New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park and are drawn to the authenticity of the fishing boats," explained Arthur Motta, director of marketing for the city. "I have to tell them: 'Don't stand on the nets. These guys are not extras in a movie.' " With its 250 fishing vessels, New Bedford is the number-one fishing port in the country—in dollar value. Other ports may catch more fish, but New Bedford's scallops bring in the most money.
Sixty percent of New Bedford's fishing fleet is owned by families of Portuguese descent, with boats passed down from generation to generation, and New Bedford celebrates this heritage in a big way. I timed my visit to catch the annual Feast of the Blessed Sacrament—the largest Portuguese festival in New England, attracting more than 300,000 people for four days in early August. The feast originated in 1915 when four men named Manuel from Madeira, feeling homesick for their country, threw a party for their neighborhood just as they'd do back home. Now the feast draws people from all over the country—from grannies with canes to young things in halter tops who come to sit at roasting pits to char hunky cubes of seasoned meat (carne d'espeto), eat Portuguese specialties like fava beans and linguica (sausage), dance to all kinds of music (the Lovin' Spoonful played opening night last year), drink Madeira wine out of casks and spin on carnival rides.
The festival alone would have made my visit worthwhile, but I was even more interested in New Bedford's whaling past, and as I headed uphill to the Whaling National Historical Park, I walked the cobblestone streets of another era. Over 150 years ago, sailors just off whaling ships—some having been at sea for three or four years—would head for the taverns and brothels on North Water Street and its surrounding lanes. These former homes of ill repute have been gussied up for the tourist trade thanks to the Waterfront Historic Area League (WHALE), which has been instrumental in preserving the authenticity of New Bedford's landmark buildings, going so far as to relocate some to prevent them from being demolished.
The more I walked around, the more I came to see a permeation of civic pride in New Bedford. The place is saturated with it. And rather than cleaning up the blood, sweat and tears of whalers and textile workers, community development agencies and grassroots initiatives are weaving these elements into the fabric of its revitalized neighborhoods.
The streets closest to the waterfront—North Water and Centre Streets—are home to artist studios, including those of John Magnan, a wood carver, Martin Stein, a photographer, and the designer jewelry boutique Be Jeweled (my personal favorite). Al Doucette, a New Bedford notable, has been carving scrimshaw for 30 years from his shop, The Whale's Tale. Storefront banners fluttered alongside exquisite garden barrels, and I was pleased with the way these enterprises managed to fit into the city's historic ambiance.
Before taking a free walking tour of the historic district, I enjoyed a two-course lunch, sampling the food at two different eateries. Freestone's Grill, located in a former bank right beside the visitor's center, has, hands down, the best creamy New England seafood chowder I've ever tasted. With its quirky interior (a big brass monkey hangs from the ceiling over the bar) and award-winning chowder, this restaurant was hopping. Next, I walked one block over to Union Street and grabbed a gourmet hot dog at Nawty Dawgs.
At the New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park Visitor Center, I learned that this part of town was designated a National Park in 1996 after Congress deemed New Bedford the best place in the United States to tell the story of whaling. Once the "City That Lit the World," more pure, smokeless spermaceti (whale oil) was unloaded off whaling ships in New Bedford than anywhere else in the country. In its heyday, 750 whaling vessels plied the waters of the world from United States shores. Five hundred of these hailed from New Bedford. In the mid-1800s, whaling was the most lucrative enterprise in New England.
Due in part to New Bedford's Quaker heritage, and the Quakers' belief in freedom and equality, whaling boat crews tended to be ethnically diverse. It wasn't unusual to see men from Cape Verde and the Azores, fugitive slaves and free blacks alongside New England Yankees toiling together to bring in and process the monstrous creatures.
A block from the visitor's center, the New Bedford Whaling Museum presents artifacts and a 22-minute orientation film depicting the whaling industry in all its guts and glory. A plaster relief of a right whale (so named because it was the "right whale to hunt") and the skeleton of an enormous blue whale greet visitors in the main hall. When I walked into the Lagoda Room—with the half-scale model of the whaler Lagoda sitting center stage—I also walked back into my own childhood. I remembered my first visit to this museum over 30 years before and the morbid fascination I felt when peering into the whaleboats, their coiled ropes and harpoons ready for the thrust and subsequent "Nantucket Sleigh Ride" necessary to exhaust the whale. My knowledge of whaling stemmed from this very place.
Across the street, the Seamen's Bethel—a church built in 1832 to counteract the "licentious" temptations of the waterfront and made famous in Herman Melville's Moby-Dick—still operates as a house of worship. Inside, a bow-shaped pulpit juts into a small pew-lined room, and cenotaphs (empty tombs) of men who did not return from the sea line the walls. One memorializes poor 18-year-old Charles Petty, who died in 1863 after being bitten by a shark while bathing off the African coast.
Next up for me was a walking tour of the National Park Historic District, given every few hours from the visitor's center. New Bedford native Cliff Rodriques offered colorful and homespun commentary about the area's history and turnaround. We passed the New Bedford Customs House, the oldest customs house in continuous operation in the U.S. And just across the street, I learned that the bank-turned-restaurant Freestone's was no ordinary bank in its day. When whaling revenue reached its peak, there were 48 millionaires in New Bedford. All kept their funds here at the Citizen's National Bank where, Rodriques joked, "They didn't want to talk to you unless you had a million dollars."
This particular area—William Street between the Customs House and Freestone's—occupies a rather goofy place in history. In 1978 a circa-1821 Federal-style home on Second Street was in danger of being demolished. To save it, WHALE raised funds to move the 500-ton building to a new location on William Street. The home was lifted off its foundation and put on platforms that were inched down William Street—until the home scraped up against the Citizen's National Bank on one side and the Customs House on the other. Just when the historic preservationists were sweating it out over the tight fit, the Blizzard of 1978 dumped four feet of snow and froze the building in its tracks. There it stayed for two months—until the spring thaw. A photo of the stuck building now stands in front of it at its new location at 32 William Street.
Behind the Customs House I stood at the site of the local recruiting station for the Massachusetts 54th Regiment, the first African-American Civil War regiment, brought to public attention in 1989 by the movie Glory, starring Denzel Washington. More than 350 New Bedford men of color—both escaped slaves and those born free—served in the Union Army between 1863 and 1865.
After leaving Rodriques, I decided to check out an obscure, but fascinating, piece of New Bedford history—that of Hetty Howland Green. The Hetty Green Museum on Union Street is a one-woman project run by Edie Nichols, a self described "history nut." Hetty Howland was born in 1834 to wealthy Quakers, owners of the formidable Howland Fleet, which was 50 whaling ships strong. The most famous was Charles Morgan, which survives today as the centerpiece of Mystic Seaport in Connecticut. With no brothers to inherit the wealth—and an uncanny knack for business (she started reading the daily financial news to her blind grandfather when she was six)—Green wheeled and dealed her way into increased wealth. The press called her "The Witch of Wall Street," but she had an under-appreciated humorous side. At a reception where the guest of honor was the Prince of Wales, she handed out her own business card—"The Princess of Whales." She married late, saved every penny she made, and gave her son a train set on his 21st birthday—the Texas Midland Railroad. At her death in 1916, Green was worth $100 million—the equivalent of nearly $17 billion in today's dollars—invested in real estate all over the country.
In the early 1800s most of the whaling merchants and captains lived close to the water, but slowly, at the request of wives who wanted to move from the filth of the waterfront, they relocated "up the hill" to leafy County Street and its intersecting roads. I hiked a half-mile up Union Street to the preserved Rotch-Jones-Duff House (circa 1834), where I was handed a 25-minute audiotape and set to roam the elegant rooms.
Two blocks away, the Orchard Street Manor B&B, built for whaling Captain Benjamin Clark in 1846, was my home away from home. Hosts Al and Suzanne Saulniers, a globetrotting intellectual couple, took great delight in showing me the oak-paneled oval dining room (where I was greeted each morning with fruit salad and fresh baked muffins), artifacts from whaling days and antiques from their world travels. I loved New Bedford, but I also wanted to explore Fairhaven on the opposite side of the harbor. It's a sleepier sort of place, but one just as steeped in history. Every summer Friday morning at 10 a.m., Chris Richard, the director of tourism for Fairhaven, heads out to Fort Phoenix, dons 1778 militia clothing and conducts the "Fort Phoenix Minuteman Tour," where he tells the story of the first naval battle of the Revolutionary War. Then he fires off some period muskets, which usually delights any kids on the tour.
Before ambling around Fairhaven center, I stopped into Margaret's Restaurant for lunch. What a stroke of luck. I'd heard about this little 43-seat place, but thought it was so much hyperbole. My doubts were doused at the first bite of Margaret's grilled scallops, sweet and juicy, complementing the greens, apples and bacon with honey-lavender dressing beneath. I wanted Margaret's to move to my hometown just so I could have this salad again. I turned to my countermates and discovered that they were boaters from Greenwich, Connecticut, just a few miles from where I live, who come to Fairhaven every year just to eat at Margaret's.
A few blocks from Margaret's, three of the many buildings that Henry Huttleston Rogers, the Standard Oil Company millionaire, donated to the town are open to the public. Rogers, a philanthropist who also befriended and financially supported Mark Twain and funded Helen Keller's education, chose a different style for each building and "created an EPCOT in this little Yankee seafaring town," said tour-guide Richard, referring to the eclectic architecture in the Florida theme park. The Town Hall, dedicated by Twain; the Millicent Library, built in memory of Rogers's daughter who died at age 17; and the Unitarian Church, a fifteenth-century-style Gothic cathedral with one-and-a-quarter-ton, cast-bronze doors, are a few of the amazing buildings on the Henry Rogers tour.
Fairhaven is also the touchstone for Japanese tourists who come to the Old Stone Schoolhouse to see where Manjiro Nakahama—believed to be the very first Japanese person to ever live in America—studied English. Fourteen-year-old Nakahama was rescued from a South Seas island in 1841 by an American whaling captain and brought back to Fairhaven. There the Japanese teen learned navigation and mathematics, and then as a young adult returned to Japan a hero.
I thought back on my days in New Bedford and Fairhaven as we docked Carpe Diem back at the Fairhaven Shipyard. There, we capped the day off with a dockside dinner catered by Fairhaven resident Margaret Edwards (no relation to the restaurant Margaret's). As I looked out from the shipyard, I could see the New Bedford waterfront across the way and feel the camaraderie of 30 or so boaters who sat down together to enjoy the meal that Margaret Edwards made for all of us. We feasted on gourmet grilled veggies, shrimp, ribs, salmon, steak and homemade ice cream, and I stamped yet another marvelous meal on my memory—a meal that united a group of people in the pleasures of a warm summer's eve. This, it occurred to me, was one more example of the New Bedford area's strong suit: impassioned individuals, small initiatives, working for the common good. New Bedford is rich once again—in public spirit.
A boater since childhood, freelance writer Malerie Yolen-Cohen lives in Stamford, Connecticut, and travels by boat every chance she gets.
AT A GLANCE
Getting There New Bedford and Fairhaven sit on opposite sides of New Bedford Harbor, on the north side of Buzzards Bay on the south coast of Massachusetts. The Elizabeth Islands are about 12 nautical miles to the south; Newport, Rhode Island, is approximately 30 nautical miles to the west and the entrance to the Cape Cod Canal is a bit over 17 nautical miles to the east. The main approach to New Bedford Harbor from Buzzards Bay is well marked. The 30-foot deep channel begins north of Negro Ledge between G "5" and R "4" (N 41º 33.47', W 70º 51.86'). Follow the channel toward the hurricane barrier, leaving the Butler Flats Lighthouse to port. When you pass through the gates of the hurricane barrier (150 feet wide), be aware that the tidal flow in the opening can reach more than 2 knots in either direction. Watch out for fishing boat traffic at all times. Use NOAA chart 13230.
Marinas, Anchorages, Ramps and Services New Bedford Harbor has just about every facility a boater could want. It contains over a dozen marinas and two major ship repair facilities that will take boats of all kinds, and fuel is available at several of them. There is a West Marine store on Popes Island that monitors VHF channel 65 and has guest moorings. Stores for provisioning are plentiful. The 198-slip Pope's Island Marina, (508) 979-1456, popeislandmar@aol.com, which is owned by the state of Massachusetts and operated by the city of New Bedford, is a good bet for transient accommodations. The marina monitors VHF channels 9 and 74. Rates were $2.25 per foot per night in 2003, with water, electric and showers included. The Fairhaven Shipyard, (508) 996-8591, VHF channel 9, www.fairhavenship.com, just inside the hurricane barrier on the Fairhaven side of the harbor, is a favorite with cruisers; 2003 slip rates were $2 per foot per night, and the marina offers restrooms, showers, laundry and fuel, plus repair and haul out services. Other marinas are mostly filled by seasonal customers. D. N. Kelley & Sons Shipyard, (508) 999-6266, also on the Fairhaven side of the harbor, is another excellent repair facility. Whaling City Launch Service, (508) 984-4979, VHF 72, rents moorings off Popes Island for $25 per night and operates a water taxi service that will take you to either side of the harbor for $3.50 per person per trip. Fairhaven Harbormaster Gary Golas, who is a wonderful source of local information, says there are good anchorages between the Fairhaven Shipyard and the hurricane barrier as well as east of the channel between Popes and Crow Islands. Dinghy docks are available at several locations on both sides of the harbor. You can call Golas at (508) 962-5781 to get more information about harbor facilities or to schedule a boat pump-out. There is a free public launch ramp on Middle Street in Fairhaven, just south of the Route 6 bridge.
Attractions Most sites in New Bedford revolve around the old whaling and current fishing industries. Get your bearings at the visitors' center for the New Bedford Whaling National Historic Park, 33 William Street, (508) 996-4095. The park includes the New Bedford Whaling Museum, 18 Johnny Cake Hill, (508) 997-0046, and the Seamen's Bethel, 15 Johnny Cake Hill, (508) 992-3295. At the Hetty Green Museum, 52 Union Street, (888) 554-3889, www.hettygreen.com, you can learn about the richest woman who ever lived (and still holds that record). The Rotch-Jones-Duff House and Garden Museum, 396 County Street, (508) 997-1401, gives visitors a glimpse of the lifestyle of wealthy whaling merchants. For an insider's view of today's fishing fleet, drop by the Waterfront Visitor's Center in the Wharfinger Building on Pier 3, (508) 979-1745. New Bedford celebrates its Portuguese pride at the Museum of Madeiran Heritage,1 Funchal Place, (508) 994-2573, and at the annual Feast of the Blessed Sacrament Festival, scheduled this year from July 29 to August 1, at Madeira Field. For information, visit www.portuguesefeast.com. Fairhaven bills itself as a "small town with a big history" and you can learn about its riches by taking 90-minute guided walking tours. For information, contact the Fairhaven Office of Tourism and Visitor's Center, (508) 979-4085.
Restaurants There are many wonderful restaurants in the New Bedford/Fairhaven area. In New Bedford these include Freestone's Grill, 41 William Street, (508) 993-7477, where I enjoyed a killer chowder and a super salad in a 130-year-old bank building; the Catwalk Bar and Grill, 34 Union Street, (508) 994-3355, has water views and great baby clams in a wine and garlic sauce. Candleworks Restaurant, 72 North Water Street, (508) 997-1294, occupies a building where spermaceti candles were made 150 years ago. Other favorites are: Oceanna Restaurant, 95 William Street, (508) 997-8465, Naughty Dawgs, 113 Union Street, (508) 993-3220, and for Portuguese food, Antonio's Restaurant, 267 Coggeshall Street, (508) 990-3636, which Bon Appetit magazine rated the best ethnic restaurant in New Bedford. In Fairhaven, Margaret's, 16 Main Street, (508) 992-9942, draws folks from all over the country with the freshest scallops cooked every way. Expect a long wait.
Accommodations You have a choice of lodging in the New Bedford/Fairhaven area, ranging from a Holiday Inn Express to many charming bed-and-breakfasts. I stayed at the Orchard Street Manor, 139 Orchard Street in New Bedford, (508) 984-3475. For other lodging, contact one of the tourism offices listed below.
Transportation Most restaurants and attractions are within walking distance of Popes Island or the Whaling City Launch Service drop-off points. For more far-flung destinations, call Yellow Cab, (508) 999-5213, or Enterprise Rent a Car, (508) 998-7200.
For More Information The Bristol County Convention and Visitor's Bureau, (508) 997-1250, www.bristol-county.org, and the New Bedford Tourism Office, www.ci.new-bedford.ma.us, (508) 979-1745, are good sources of additional information.
