Neptune's Needle

1990 pop. 99,922; 2000 pop. 93,768), (cap.) Bristol co., SE Mass., at the mouth of the Acushnet R., on Buzzard’s Bay; 41º40'N 70º57'W. The country's largest whaling port, after surpassing Nantucket in 1820s, it has become a leading port for the fishing and scalloping industries. During the Revolution the harbor was a haven for Amer. privateers, prompting the British to invade and burn the town in 1778. The whaling industry boomed after the Revolution, reaching a peak in the 1850s. The 1st cotton-textile mill in the city dates from 1846, but the textile industry declined in the 1920s. Mfg. (apparel, textiles, electrical and electronic equip., rubber prods., medical supplies, prepared food, metal prods.). The Seamen’s Bethel, described by Herman Melville in Moby Dick ; the Bourne Whaling Mus.; the Old Dartmouth Historical Society; Friends’ Acad. (1810); and the Swain School of Design are in New Bedford. The Free Public Lib. holds a large collection of material on whaling. A sizable Port.-speaking pop. is in the city. Settled 1640, set off from Dartmouth 1787, inc. as a city 1847.

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Compiler

Peter Richards