Welcome back to National Parks and other public lands with T!

New England Road Trip➤

Patty and I hit the road again in April 2023. We planned to visit a friend in Rhode Island and attend a meetup of the National Park Travelers Club in Massachusetts. Along the way we hit several other National Park Units and historic sites. We stopped at New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park on this trip.

New Bedford Whaling➤

The New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park commemorates the area’s whaling and maritime heritage. It encompasses thirteen blocks and includes several historic buildings and museums. New Bedford, Massachusetts was the largest whaling port in the world in the mid 1800s. Whalemen traveled from New Bedford around the globe in search of the Earth’s largest mammals.

Whales yielded sperm oil, spermacetti, and baleen. These produced lamp oil, candle wax and soaps. The whaling merchants of New Bedford operated a complex and profitable network of finance, shipbuilding, barrel making, insurance, provisioning and rope and sail making to support the whaling industry.

The National Park Service partners with local organizations to maintain and interpret the 34-acre historic district. We stopped first at the visitor center to talk to the rangers, watch the introductory film and look at the exhibits.

Next, we walked over to the New Bedford Whaling Museum. The museum opened in the early 1900s, so has been around longer than the National Park. It has extensive exhibits on whales and the history of whaling. We boarded an 89-foot model of the Lagoda, built in 1916.

The Mariner’s Home and Seamen’s Bethel sit across the street from the museum. These served as a sanctuary for the crewmen when in between voyages and when the whaling industry declined with the advent of petroleum products.

New England Posts➤

• Mark Twain
• Roger Williams
• Slater Mill
• New Bedford Whaling
• Cape Cod: Nauset Marsh Trail
• Cape Cod: Three Sisters Lights
• Cape Cod: Nauset Light
• Pilgrim Memorial State Park
• Minute Man: Hartwell
• Minute Man: Battle Road
• Springfield Armory

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Location: 33 William St, New Bedford, Massachusetts
Designation: National Historical Park
Date designated/established: November 12, 1996
Date of my visit: April 13, 2023