New Bedford, Massachusetts, USA
1895 - New Bedford

New Bedford, a city and port of entry of Massachusetts, one of the capitals of Bristol co, is situated on the W. bank of the Acushnet River, near its mouth in New Bedford harbor, an arm of Buzzard's Bay, 55 miles S. of Boston. Lat. 41° 38' N.; Lon. 70° 56' W. Two bridges, both of which extend to Fairhaven, here cross the river, and a noted drive, called "French Avenue," 4 miles long, around Clark's Point, on which is located a United States fort of granite, affords a fine view of the bay and river, New Bedford is noted for the elegance of its private residences, while its public institutions embrace a city hall (a Doric granite structure), a custom-house, 44 churches, a free public library (the first one established in the United States), masonic, Odd Fellows', and Young Men's Christian Association halls, a fine new post-office building, a high-school building which cost $126,000, 2 hospitals, an orphan asylum, 5 national banks, 2 savings-banks (with combined deposits and surplus of about $18,000,000), and printing-offices which issue 3 daily and 3 weekly newspapers. Its industrial establishments, of which there are about 675, employing 15,000 hands, whose wages amount to about $6,250,000 annually, embrace the Wamsutta Cotton-Mills (capital $3,000,000), Acushnet Cotton-Mills ($500,000), Bennett Yarn Manufacturing Company ($700,000), Columbia Yarn-Spinning Company ($750,000), Bristol Yarn Manufacturing Company ($500,000), City Cotton Yarn Company ($750,000), Grinnell Cotton Manufacturing Company ($800,000), Hathaway Cotton Manufacturing Company ($800,000), Howland Mills Yarn Company ($1,000,000), New Bedford Cotton Yarn Company ($500,000), Pierce Cotton Manufacturing Company ($600, 000), Potomska Mills Print Cloth Company ($1,200,000), Rotch Yarn-Spinning Company ($500,000), with other manufacturing concerns (cordage, shoes, flour, glass, silver ware, machinery, &c.), which employ in the aggregate an additional capital of over $6,000,000. New Bedford has an excellent public-school system, a board of trade with a membership of about 300, 125 miles of streets, 35 miles of which are macadamized, electric and horse street-railways, and an unsurpassed sewer system. Freight-steamers ply between this city and New York, and fast and elegant steamboats run hence to Nantucket, Martha's Vineyard, Woods Hole, and other points in the vicinity. Formerly (1750–1850) New Bedford was largely engaged in the whale-fishery, at which time about 400 whaling-ships (now only about 45) belonged to the port, the average annual importations being about 60,000 barrels of sperm oil and 120,000 barrels of whale oil. Railways connect the city with Taunton and with Fall River. New Bedford was incorporated as a city in 1847. Pop. in 1880,26,845; in 1890, 40,133; in 1893, 52,300. Present pop. 55,356.

Lippincott's Gazetteer of the World: A Complete Pronouncing Gazetteer Or Geographical Dictionary of the World Containing Notices of Over One Hundred and Twenty-five Thousand Places ... Joseph Thomas January 1, 1895 J.B. Lippincott

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