New Bedford: The View Across to Fairhaven from Centre Street In 1884

Today, New Bedford is still a flourishing commercial port. Central Wharf, now rebuilt in concrete, is in exactly the same position as it was a hundred years ago. The port, then the capital of the whaling (oil) industry, had ten or more piers, crowded with whaleships in various stages of preparation for the two to four year voyages necessary to fill each ships storage casks with the vital commodity. Crews would be prepared to face laborious work in the heat of the tropics, or suffer endless months in the sub zero climate of the Arctic or Antarctic while pursuing the migratory instincts of their quarry. But one thing was assured. Upon return to home port with a full cargo, each crew member would be relatively rich.

In this view we look across the Acushnet River to Fairhaven after an unexpectedly heavy snowfall has caught everyone unawares. The Whaling Brig ISABELLA, is anchored in the chilly Acushnet while the bark CICERO, her whaling days over, lies in retirement at and inner berth.

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