Central New Bedford Historic District | |
Location | New Bedford, Massachusetts |
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Coordinates | 41°38′6″N70°55′39″W / 41.63500°N 70.92750°W |
Area | 29 acres (12 ha) |
Built | ca 1890s |
Architect | Peabody & Stearns; Et al. |
Architectural style | Classical Revival, Greek Revival, Romanesque |
NRHP reference No. | 80000430 [1] |
Added to NRHP | April 24, 1980 |
The Central New Bedford Historic District is one of nine historic districts in New Bedford, Massachusetts, United States. The district encompasses the city's central business district, built up during the time in the late 19th century when textiles had replaced whaling as the city's main industry. It is a 29-acre (12 ha) 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 in 1980. [1]
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. 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 style, but most are either Classical Revival or Romanesque Revival, styles more common in the late 19th century. [2]
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 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. [2]
New Bedford is a city in Bristol County, Massachusetts, United States. 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 people. English colonists bought the land on which New Bedford would later be built from the Wampanoag in 1652, and the original colonial settlement that would later become the city was founded by English Quakers in the late 17th century. The town of New Bedford itself was officially incorporated in 1787.
The Swain School of Design (1881–1988) was an independent tuition-free non-profit school of higher learning in New Bedford, Massachusetts. It first defined its mission as a "school of design" for the "application of art to the industries" in 1902, making it the 12th oldest art school in the United States. By then, the 19th-century whaling capital of the world was already in a textile boom, one that required designers. In response, Swain's trustees developed a meticulous program of study. In the first year, students would train for 40 hours a week in "Pure Design" to prepare them for a second year in "Historic Design." Applied skills spanned a panoply of techniques, involving the design of picture frames, book and magazine covers, illuminations, lettering, stained glass, metalwork, architectural moldings and the "application of ornament to prints." Within a generation, that foresight had made New Bedford, with nearly 70 mills and 41,000 mill workers, the richest city per capita in the U.S.
The Nantucket Historic District is a National Historic Landmark District that encompasses the entire island of Nantucket, Massachusetts. The original December 13, 1966 listing on the National Register of Historic Places included only the historic downtown core and the village of Siasconset, but was expanded in 1975 to include the entire island, as well as the islands of Tuckernuck and Muskeget. At over 30,000 acres, it is the largest conventional historic National Historic Landmark District by area in the contiguous United States.
The William Rotch Jr. House, now the Rotch–Jones–Duff House and Garden Museum, is a National Historic Landmark at 396 County Street in New Bedford, Massachusetts, in the United States. The three families whose names are attached to it were all closely tied to the city's nineteenth-century dominance of the whaling industry. Because of this, the house is part of the New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park.
The New Bedford Historic District is a National Historic Landmark District in New Bedford, Massachusetts, United States, west of the community's waterfront. During the 19th century, when the city was the center of the American whaling industry, this was its downtown. After its decline in the early and mid-20th century, through the efforts of local activist groups the district has since been preserved and restored to appear much as it was during that period.
The Edgartown Village Historic District is a historic district encompassing the traditional center of Edgartown, Massachusetts, on the island of Martha's Vineyard. The district is roughly bounded by Water St. and Pease's Point Way, and encompasses some 500 acres (200 ha). The buildings within the district primarily represent the period of Edgartown's growth in the 19th century, featuring the elaborate houses of wealthy ship captains, as well as significant public buildings such as the Dukes County Courthouse and Jail, the Federated Church, and the Whaling Church. The district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.
The Old Third District Courthouse in New Bedford, Massachusetts, United States, is located at the corner of Second and William streets. It was built in 1853 by Russell Warren in the Greek Revival architectural style, as the home of the New Bedford Institute for Savings, a local bank. After the bank moved, the Bristol County courts came in. They, too, eventually outgrew it and moved elsewhere in the city. Since the creation of New Bedford Whaling National Historic Park in 1996, it has been used by the National Park Service (NPS) as the park's visitor center.
The Lower Highlands Historic District encompasses one of the oldest residential areas of Fall River, Massachusetts. The district is roughly bounded by Cherry, Main, Winter, and Bank Streets, and is located just east of the Downtown Fall River Historic District and directly south of the Highlands Historic District. This area was settled by 1810, has architecture tracing the city's growth as a major industrial center. The historic district was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1984.
The North Bedford Historic District is a historic district roughly bounded by Summer, Parker, Pleasant and Kempton Streets in New Bedford, Massachusetts. It encompasses a predominantly residential neighborhood north of downtown New Bedford which was developed primarily in the mid 19th-century. It features a variety of worker housing of the period, as well as a number of higher quality houses built by businessmen. The district was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1979.
The Conway Center Historic District encompasses the historic village center of Conway, Massachusetts. The district is focused on Main Street, a section of Massachusetts Route 116 that connects two major road intersections on either side of the South River. It includes properties on Main Street, Elm Street, and Academy Hill Road, and is generally representative of the growth of the community between about 1830 and 1930. The district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1999.
The Spicket Falls Historic District encompasses the historic industrial and commercial heart of Methuen, Massachusetts, and one of the lower Merrimack River's best-preserved 19th century mill complexes. It is centered on the falls of the Spicket River, from which the 19th century textile mills of Methuen derived their power. The historic district, listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984, includes commercial and civic buildings in and near Gaunt Square, the heart of the city, and along both sides of the Spicket River between Gaunt Square and the Boston and Maine Railroad tracks south of the river. It abuts the residential Pleasant-High Historic District, which lies to its east.
The Central Troy Historic District is an irregularly shaped, 96-acre (39 ha) area of downtown Troy, New York, United States. It has been described as "one of the most perfectly preserved 19th-century downtowns in the [country]" with nearly 700 properties in a variety of architectural styles from the early 19th to mid-20th centuries. These include most of Russell Sage College, one of two privately owned urban parks in New York, and two National Historic Landmarks. Visitors ranging from the Duke de la Rochefoucauld to Philip Johnson have praised aspects of it. Martin Scorsese used parts of downtown Troy as a stand-in for 19th-century Manhattan in The Age of Innocence.
The Mechanics' Hall District is a historic district encompassing a city block of downtown Worcester, Massachusetts, United States that preserves its late 19th-century appearance. It is located on Main Street between Exchange and Foster Streets, and includes the Worcester Five Cents Savings Bank building and Mechanics Hall. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.
The Centre Village Historic District encompasses the historic central business district of Southbridge, Massachusetts. The district includes properties on Main Street, roughly between Elm and Goddard Streets. The central area represents a fairly well preserved Late Victorian commercial center. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1979.
The Hudson Historic District includes most of downtown Hudson, New York, United States, once called "one of the richest dictionaries of architectural history in New York State". It is a 139-acre (56 ha) area stretching from the city's waterfront on the east bank of the Hudson River to almost its eastern boundary, with a core area of 45 blocks. It has 756 contributing properties, most of which date from the city's founding in 1785 to the mid-1930s. In 1985 it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The United States Customhouse is a historic and active custom house at 2nd and William Streets in New Bedford, Massachusetts. Architect Robert Mills designed the custom house in 1834 in a Greek Revival style. It has been used by the U.S. Customs Service ever since, and today serves as a port of entry.
The Greenwich Avenue Historic District is a historic district representing the commercial and civic historical development of the downtown area of the town of Greenwich, Connecticut. The district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on August 31, 1989. Included in the district is the Greenwich Municipal Center Historic District, which was listed on the National Register the year before for the classical revival style municipal buildings in the core of Downtown. Most of the commercial buildings in the district fall into three broad styles, reflecting the period in which they were built: Italianate, Georgian Revival, and Commercial style. The district is linear and runs north–south along the entire length of Greenwich Avenue, the main thoroughfare of Downtown Greenwich, between U.S. Route 1 and the New Haven Line railroad tracks.
The Head of the River Historic District is a historic district encompassing a village area at the head of navigation of the Acushnet River, which separates Acushnet and New Bedford, Massachusetts. The village is centered at the junction of Tarkin Hill Road, River Road, and Mill Road in New Bedford, and Main Street in Acushnet. The area went through two significant periods of development: the first was in the late 18th and early 19th century, and the second was in the early 20th century. The district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2009.
The Bedford Town Hall is located at 70 Bedford Center Road in Bedford, New Hampshire. Built in 1910, it is a prominent early work of Chase R. Whitcher, a noted architect of northern New England in the early 20th century. The building is the third town hall to stand on this site, and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984.
The City Hall Park Historic District encompasses one of the central economic, civic, and public spaces of the city of Burlington, Vermont. Centered on City Hall Park, the area's architecture encapsulates the city's development from a frontier town to an urban commercial center. The district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.