Dartmouth is a coastal town in Bristol County, Massachusetts, United States. Old Dartmouth was the first area of Southeastern Massachusetts to be settled by Europeans in 1652, primarily English. Dartmouth is part of New England's farm coast, which consists of a chain of historic coastal villages, vineyards, and farms. June 8, 2014, marked the 350th year of Dartmouth's incorporation as a town. It is also part of the Massachusetts South Coast.
Fairhaven is a town in Bristol County, Massachusetts, United States. It is located on the South Coast of Massachusetts where the Acushnet River flows into Buzzards Bay, an arm of the Atlantic Ocean. The town shares a harbor with the city of New Bedford, a place well known for its whaling and fishing heritage; consequently, Fairhaven's history, economy, and culture are closely aligned with those of its larger neighbor. The population of Fairhaven was 15,924 at the time of the 2020 census.
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.
William Bradford was an American romanticist painter, photographer and explorer, originally from Fairhaven, Massachusetts, near New Bedford. His early work focused on portraits of the many ships in New Bedford Harbor. In 1858, his painting New Bedford Harbor at Sunset was included in Albert Bierstadt's landmark New Bedford Art Exhibition.
Butler Flats Light is a sparkplug lighthouse located in the outer harbor of New Bedford, Massachusetts, at the mouth of the Acushnet River. Built in 1898 by the United States Lighthouse Board, it is the only known caisson lighthouse designed by a marine architect. The light was added to the National Register of Historic Places as Butler Flats Light Station on June 15, 1987. Automated in 1978, it is now operated by the city as a private aid to navigation.
The South Coast of Massachusetts is the region of southeastern Massachusetts consisting of the southern part of Bristol and Plymouth counties, bordering Buzzards Bay, and includes the cities of Fall River, New Bedford, the southeastern tip of East Taunton and nearby towns. The Rhode Island towns of Tiverton and Little Compton, located in Newport County, are often included within the South Coast designation due to regional similarities with adjacent communities.
The Acushnet River is the largest river, 8.6 miles (13.8 km) long, flowing into Buzzards Bay in southeastern Massachusetts, in the United States. The name "Acushnet" comes from the Wampanoag or Algonquian word, "Cushnea", meaning "as far as the waters", a word that was used by the original owners of the land in describing the extent of the parcel they intended to sell to the English settlers from the nearby Plimouth colony. Quite naturally, the English mistook "Cushnea" for a fixed placename or the name of a specific river.
Prince Henry the Navigator Park is a park on Pope's Island in New Bedford, Massachusetts. The park is dedicated to Prince Henry the Navigator. It was created in 1994, a gift to the city from the Prince Henry Society of New Bedford and the Portuguese government.
The New Bedford-Fairhaven Bridge is a swing truss bridge which connects New Bedford, Massachusetts with Fairhaven, Massachusetts.
Palmer Island Light Station is a historic lighthouse in New Bedford Harbor in New Bedford, Massachusetts, USA. The lighthouse was built in 1849 out of stone rubble. It was discontinued when the harbor's hurricane barrier was built in the early 1960s, as its location immediately north of the barrier was no longer an outlying danger and there are lights on either side of the barrier opening.
Fort Phoenix is a former American Revolutionary War-era fort located at the entrance to the Fairhaven-New Bedford harbor, south of U.S. 6 in Fort Phoenix Park in Fairhaven, Massachusetts. The fort was originally built in 1775 without a name, and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1972. Just off the fort, in Buzzards Bay, was the first naval engagement of the American Revolution, the Battle of Fairhaven on 14 May 1775.
Grey's raid was a series of raids carried out in Massachusetts by British forces under the command of Major-General Charles Grey in September 1778 during the American Revolutionary War. Grey, leading 4,000 troops, raided the towns of New Bedford and Fairhaven along with Martha's Vineyard as part of the northern theater of the American Revolutionary War after Saratoga. The raids were one of the first in a series of attacks executed by the British against American coastal communities.
The U.S. state of Massachusetts has vast wind energy resources offshore, as well as significant resources onshore. The 2016 update to the states's Clean Energy and Climate Plan had a goal of reducing 1990 baseline greenhouse gas emissions levels by 25% by 2020. Current goals include installing 3,500 megawatts (MW) of offshore wind power in the state by 2035. However, as of Q4 2021 the state had only 120 MW of wind powered electricity generating capacity, responsible for generating 0.9% of in-state electricity production. The state has awarded contracts to two offshore projects, the 800 MW Vineyard Wind project and 804 MW Mayflower Wind project. Construction began on the Vineyard Wind 1 project on November 18, 2021, after a long fight for approval. Commonwealth Wind was selected for development in 2021, but the developer has attempted to cancel the project due to increased costs. There are eight projects planned for off the southern coast of Massachusetts, though some will deliver power to Rhode Island, Connecticut, and New York.
The Port of Coeymans is a relatively new marine terminal located about ten miles south of Albany, New York and the Port of Albany-Rensselaer in the town of Coeymans, United States. The port is located on the site of the former Powell & Minnock Brick Company, and is sometimes referred to as the P&M Brick Marine Terminal. The port's large open spaces, as well as access to the Hudson River and New York State Thruway, have led to its use in prefabrication projects, including the Willis Avenue and 145th Street Bridges in New York City. The port owners Carver have invested more than $30 Million to update the facilities.
The following is a timeline of the history of New Bedford, Massachusetts, United States.
The Harbor Defenses of New Bedford was a United States Army Coast Artillery Corps harbor defense command. It coordinated the coast defenses of New Bedford, Massachusetts and the nearby Cape Cod Canal from 1900 to 1950, beginning with the Endicott program. These included a coast artillery fort and an underwater minefield. The command originated circa 1900 as the New Bedford Artillery District, was renamed Coast Defenses of New Bedford in 1913, and again renamed Harbor Defenses of New Bedford in 1925.
Vineyard Wind 1 is an offshore wind farm under construction in U.S. federal waters in the Atlantic Ocean in Bureau of Ocean Energy Management-designated Lease Area OCS-A 0520, about 13 nautical miles south of Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket, Massachusetts. The array is designed to include 62 Haliade-X wind turbines manufactured by GE Offshore Wind with a nameplate capacity of 804 MW combined, equivalent to the annual power use of 400,000 homes. The Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities approved the project in 2019. Construction began on November 18, 2021. In October 2023, the first turbine was installed. Power from the first turbine started flowing into the ISO New England grid on January 2, 2024. Construction is expected to be complete by the end of 2024.
Jonathan F. Mitchell is an American lawyer politician and a former federal prosecutor who has served as Mayor of New Bedford, Massachusetts, since January 2012. He was elected in the 2011 mayoral election after former mayor Scott W. Lang chose not to seek reelection, and was reelected in 2013, 2015, 2017, and 2019. In 2017, New Bedford adopted a four-year mayoral term effective in 2019, and Mitchell was elected to the city's first four-year term that year.
Offshore wind power is in the early stages of development in the United States. In 2016, the United States Department of Energy estimated that the country has a gross resource potential of 10,800GW of offshore wind capacity, with a "technical" resource potential of 2,058GW. Offshore wind projects are under development in wind-rich areas of the East Coast, Great Lakes, and Pacific coast. The first commercial offshore wind farm, Block Island Wind Farm, began operation in 2016. As of 2017, about 30 projects totaling 24 gigawatts (GW) of potential installed capacity were being planned.
The 1985–1986 New Bedford fishermen's strike was a labor strike involving fishermen in the port city of New Bedford, Massachusetts, United States. The strike, led by the Seafarers International Union of North America, began on December 26, 1985, after discussions on the terms of a new labor contract fell apart. The strike continued into the next year and involved about 700 of the 1,200 fishermen in the city. The strike ended around March 1986 with mixed results for the union, with a compromised labor contract. However, the strike severely hurt organized labor among the fishermen, with the New Bedford Fishing Heritage Center saying that the strike "[led] to the end of organized labor in the New Bedford fishing fleet".
