New Bedford Historic District

The district contains good examples of smaller Federal and Greek Revival style buildings with shops on the ground floor and living quarters above, as well as several gable-roofed warehouses of brick or stone. Some of the district's major institutional buildings constructed during this period include the U.S. Custom House, Mechanics Bank, Merchant's Bank and New Bedford Institution for Savings. Other prominent buildings in the New Bedford Historic District include the Samuel Rodman House (1831), the Mariner's Home (circa 1790), the Seaman's Bethel (1832 and rebuilt in 1867) and the Samuel Rodman Candlehouse (1810). Sponsored by the Old Dartmouth Historical Society, the Whaling Museum in New Bedford is a massive 20th-century, Georgian Revival style building, which today houses extensive collections illustrating the history of the whaling industry.