427 County Street, James Arnold Mansion, 1821 Federal Style
427 County Street, James Arnold Mansion, 1821 Federal StyleJames Arnold was born on September 9, 1781 in Providence, Rhode Island, the son of wealthy Thomas and Mary (Brown) Arnold. He came to New Bedford to work for whaling titan William Rotch Jr. and married Rotch’s daughter, Sarah, in 1807. Sarah Rotch Arnold (1786-1860) was an early community activist dedicated to social reform, religious tolerance, and horticultural beauty. James Arnold was a partner in his father in-law’s maritime enterprises. In 1821, he erected a grand Federal-style brick mansion on the hill overlooking the busy harbor. Arnold constructed his home on an estate that once stretched from County to Cottage Street and from Union to Clinton Street. Arnold became interested in horticulture and landscaping, and the gardens around the mansion were legendary. He made several trips to Europe, during which he collected a variety of trees, shrubs, and flowers that he transplanted to his extensive estate. James Arnold, in his will, entrusted Harvard College with funds to be used for the establishment and support of an arboretum, known as the Arnold Arboretum in Boston. The wealth of the whaling industry drew renowned people to the area and many of them stayed with the Arnolds, including former president John Quincy Adams, Herman Melville and John James Audubon. The two-story brick mansion in the Federal style, was updated in the 1870's to include a mansard roof, and was revamped and expanded again in 1924 as a Colonial Revival structure when the Wamsutta Club, a local baseball team started by city Harvard graduates, purchased the property. The James Arnold Mansion Inc. was founded on September 1, 2016, as a historic preservation corporation. Currently, it operates as a private club. It also houses the New Bedford Museum of Glass.
95 Madison Street, Peleg C. Howland, 1876 EastLake Stick style
95 Madison Street, Peleg C. Howland, 1876 EastLake Stick styleJireh Swift sold the land opposite his home to a local builder, William Tillinghast, in 1875. In the following year, two houses were completed. Peleg C. Howland purchased the house at 95 Madison Street. Howland had come to New Bedford from Westport, and in 1851 was employed as a teller in the Merchants Bank. He married Lucy Congdon, daughter of the head cashier, that same year and became cashier at the death of his father-in-law. After the death of his first wife, he married Clara Kempton, for whom this house was built in 1875. Following her death, he married her sister, Elizabeth Kempton.The exposed timbers are a hallmark of the Stick Style in American building, while the pierced carpentry is in the fashion of medieval decoration identified with the nineteenth century English designer and historian, Charles Eastlake. The use of several colors to emphasize the variety of carvings was a widespread Victorian practice. The house also features a steep roof and an intricate asymmetrical plan.
100 Madison Street, Abby Taber Hunt, 1855 Italianate Style
100 Madison Street, Abby Taber Hunt, 1855 Italianate StyleIn Moby-Dick, Melville wrote of New Bedford, “Nowhere in America will you find more patrician-like houses, parks and gardens more opulent than in New Bedford.” The Italianate style home is certainly an example of this. The home was built in 1855 by Captain Henry Taber for his daughter, Abby Taber Hunt. Hunt was a part of the family business of Taber, Gordon & Co., grocers, naval store and ship chandlery, who were successors to Henry Taber & Co. Shortly after moving into the house, Mr. Hunt fell ill, and a room was prepared for him to be confined in the attic, and after his death the room was sealed. When the Swain School of Design owned the property, the room was uncovered, and it was reported that Mr. Hunt’s ghost appeared and roamed the house until the present owner had his spirit removed. After the death of Mr. Hunt in 1862, the home was rented to Mr. and Mrs. John Hoadley. Mrs. Hoadley was formerly Catherine Melville, sister of Herman Melville. It is widely presumed that Herman Melville visited here upon many occasions before the Hoadleys moved to Lawrence in 1866.The Mansard roof seen here was popular after 1852-7, the years of the rebuilding and extension of the Louvre Palace in Paris. The house was built in the Italianate style with its projecting bay areas and dormers, as well as the brackets under the roof line and the cupola atop the building. The solarium to the right of the entrance was a later addition.
7 Irving Street, Richmond Cottage, 1856 Gothic Revival Style
7 Irving Street, Richmond Cottage, 1856 Gothic Revival StyleThis cottage was built for Francis Rodman in 1856 and sold to Richmond in this form. He purchased the lot for this house from William J. Rotch in 1856 and, when he moved to Newton in 1866, sold it to Richmond. In 1878, the property became a wedding gift to Attorney Walter C. Clifford, son of Massachusetts Governor John H. Clifford (Term 1853-1854) and Walter Clifford’s wife, Harriet, daughter of Congressman Charles S. Randall. Walter Clifford was the Mayor of New Bedford from 1889-1890.The exterior sheathing of this home is board-and-batten, popular in the nineteenth century and favored by Alexander Jackson Davis in other projects. The multiple vertical lines visually enrich the smooth exterior walls and help to knit together the variety of pointed windows, projecting bays, and pierced decoration of the Gothic style. When Irving Street was extended to Maple Street in 1906, the front entrance of the house was relocated to face the new street.
19 Irving Street, William J. Rotch, 1846 Gothic Cottage
19 Irving Street, William J. Rotch, 1846 Gothic CottageThe house was built for William Rotch, who became New Bedford‘s second mayor in 1852, and served as president of Friends’ Academy for forty-two years. The W. J. Rotch house was originally built on a site set back on a rolling lawn facing Orchard Street. In 1857, its original owner found the house too small for his large family, and commissioned an addition by William Ralph Emerson to the northwest. It was at this time that the dormers on the Irving Street façade were added. After 1883, this ensemble was moved back about seventy-five feet to its present location by its owner, Morgan Rotch, who was also mayor of that time. Maple Street was then cut through from Orchard Street to Cottage Street, and the resulting house lots developed. The 1857 addition was separated from the house, and now stands as a single family residence on Cottage Street. In 1980, lightning struck the south chimney, and the resulting fire destroyed the roof and third floor.William J. Rotch Gothic Cottage is one of the nation’s best known examples of Early Gothic Revival architecture, and a home of which New Bedford can justifiably be proud. It was built in 1844, designed by the outstanding architect, Alexander Jackson Davis. Davis’s drawings for this residence were published in A. J. Downing’s Architecture of Country Houses in 1848. As design number XXIV in that widely distributed volume, this home became one of the primary models for this style of residence throughout America. The elaborate verge board designs and porch roof trim give dramatic emphasis to the picturesque steep roof line and graceful vertical thrusts of its many peaks. The use of the Gothic style, because of its associations with religious architecture in the popular mind, was seen by nineteenth century critics to reflect positively upon the upright moral fiber of the owner. To quote Downing, “We should say that the character expressed by the exterior of this design is that of a man or family of domestic tastes, but with strong aspirations after something higher than social pleasures.” The ornate embellishments on the façade of this house were revolutionary to the predominantly Quaker community of the day. W.J. Rotch, a Quaker by birth, had joined the more liberal Unitarian Church, whose edifice was also designed by Davis in 1835.
112 Cottage Street , Rotch Gothic Cottage Addition 1857
112 Cottage Street , Rotch Gothic Cottage Addition 1857The Rotch Gothic Cottage Addition was built in 1857 for William Rotch by the Boston architect, William Ralph Emerson. Emerson is best known to architectural historians as one of the originators of the Shingle Style later in the century, however, the obvious need to coordinate his addition with the pre-existing Alexander Jackson Davis design over-ruled his innovative instincts here. This house was separated from the W. J. Rotch house soon after 1883 and moved to its present site at 113 Cottage Street.
118 Arnold Street, Simeon Rice House, 1820 Cape Cottage Style
118 Arnold Street, Simeon Rice House, 1820 Cape Cottage StyleSimeon Rice was born in New Bedford January 18, 1805. He and his spouse Hannah were married and were the parents of three children: Elvira, Pricilla and Adoniram. The Rice Family lived in the home and ran a bakery adjacent to the property. Later, the son Adoniram married Katie B. Warren and continued the bakery business. His sister, Elvira, owned the home until 1883.The Rice House is a 1 ½-story Cape Cottage Style with clapboard siding on the front façade, and there is a wood shingle exterior on the sides. Above the center entrance a large gable has been added after the house was built. There are simple details on the cornice, windows and the entablature; a cornice-topped entablature accentuates the front door. Arched molding is decorated over the second story window beneath the front-facing gable.
130 Arnold Street, Henry Bliss House 1835, Cape Cottage Style
130 Arnold Street, Henry Bliss House 1835, Cape Cottage StyleHenry Bliss was born in New Bedford on June 21, 1816, and married Ellen Akin. He was a housewright by trade, and worked for Moses H. Bliss at 38 Russell Street for several years. Later he worked as a carpenter. A son, William Bliss, lived here and worked as a clerk. The Bliss family lived in the house for several years before buying it from the William Rotch Estate in 1870. The Bliss family lived in this house until 1928.This 1 ½-story house has a rectangular ground plan with a side ell that encompasses a porch. The front façade exhibits a center entrance with a transom light above, flanked on either side by two windows of six over six sash. Cornice moldings and corner boards are simple, as are the window surrounds. There is a small front porch with steps and a balustrade that runs perpendicular to the front door. There is a gabled side porch with a balustrade supported by single columns.
172 Arnold Street, Harriet B. Beard; James E Reed, 1866 Octagon Style
172 Arnold Street, Harriet B. Beard; James E Reed, 1866 Octagon StyleIn 1859, Harriet B. Beard bought a lot of land on Arnold Street. Harriet Beard was the wife of William A. Beard, but the land was not for their joint use; the deed specified that the property was free from the control and interference of her husband. William A. Beard was a master mariner in New Bedford, and he and his wife never lived in Arnold Street but resided instead on the more prestigious Union Street. She was the former Harriet B. Gust, and she married William Beard in New Bedford in 1842. The first known resident of the house was Luther Brownell, a harness maker, who bought the property in 1869 and was living there by 1870. He sold the house four years later.James Reed, a well-known African American photographer, brought his spouse Anna Jourdain Reed to this house in 1892 where they were to raise six children. James Reed began his photography career in 1880 when he went to work for G.F. Parlow. In 1895, Reed opened his own studio and remained on 5 Purchase Street for nearly 20 years, until Purchase Street was widened and the photography studio demolished. Reed, at the age of 50, became the first photostat operator in the Massachusetts State Archive, a position he held until his retirement. James Reed contributed photos to history books in the area such as A history of the town of Acushnet, Bristol County, State of Massachusetts. He used cabinet card portraiture, including an iconic image of Frederick Douglass. Reed’s wife, Anna, studied at the Swain School of Design and learned how to colorize James Reed’s photographs. Anna Jourdain also worked on Tiffany style lampshades for the famous Pairpoint Company of New Bedford. James Reed died in the fall of 1939. Anna Jourdain and their daughters continued to reside in the house until their deaths.The house at 172 Arnold Street is one of two octagon houses remaining in New Bedford; there are only about twenty such houses standing today in the state. Octagon houses were most popular in this country between 1850 to 1860, although this example was built slightly later. The structure is two-stories and of Italianate-style. The building has an octagonal plan and a hip-roof. This main entrance consists of a single door flanked by four-light sidelights and wood panel surround set beneath a broad entablature. Fenestration consists of single, six over six double-hung-sash windows. The original six over six pane windows are still intact, but later additions of asphalt shingles and a then step rail, door and awning of aluminum mark the original appearance of this home. Since one portion of the house was squared off to create an enlargement, the house today is actually seven-sided.
347 Union Street, Captain Fordyce Dennis Haskell House, 1848 Octagon Style
347 Union Street, Captain Fordyce Dennis Haskell House, 1848 Octagon StyleCaptain Fordyce Dennis Haskell was Master of the New Bedford whaler Mercury from 1836 to 1848. His home was built in 1847-48 by the housewright, John F. Vinal. The home is one of only two New Bedford houses built in the “Octagon Mode.” In 1848, Orson Squire Fowler published a book, A Home For All, or The Gravel Wall and Octagon Mode of Building. This form of building employs an octagonal ground plan, usually a two story elevation, and a centrally placed belvedere. This shape of construction resulted from the proselytizing advocacy of Fowler, a domestic critic, amateur architect and phrenologist. The Octagon House advocated by Fowler was to have been built utilizing a “gravel wall” (cement) construction. Rather than Fowler’s intended material, this home is sheathed in wood, which was cut and sanded to simulate stone. Architectural details are of a classical sort. According to Fowler, the cement material made the air cooler in summer and the octagonal shape of the house made circulation of air easier year round and movement within the home more efficient. This, he insisted, was more healthy for the inhabitants. Most of the Octagon Houses in America were built between 1848 and 1860, when Fowler’s book went through nine editions.Fordyce Dennis Haskell resided at the octagon home for a decade and sold the house in 1858 to John Hastings, a native of Connecticut who established an oil, soap and candle factory in New Bedford in 1856. Hastings' works at the foot of Grinnell Street, was once the largest fish oil refinery in the country. By the 1880’s, Hastings had created an ornate garden on the property.
350 Union Street, Joseph Grinnell, 1852
350 Union Street, Joseph Grinnell, 1852The lot on the corner of Cottage Street was purchased from Arnold by Joseph Grinnell, who built this home in 1852. He sold the house in 1853 to Barnabas S. Perkins, a whaling merchant, and later a wholesale grocer in the firm of Haskins and Perkins. The most famous owner of this house, however, was Hosea Morrill Knowlton, prosecutor at the trial of Lizzie Borden, the Fall River woman accused of murdering her parents. (Despite popular children’s rhymes to the contrary, history records show that she was found innocent). As a result of the notoriety of the case, Knowlton subsequently became State Attorney General, a post he held until his death in 1902.
342 Union Street, Deacon Edward Cannon, 1858
342 Union Street, Deacon Edward Cannon, 1858The Deacon Edward Cannon house was built in 1858. The deed stated Cannon’s intention to erect a dwelling house for occupancy of himself and his family. For 55 years, the homestead remained in the family's possession. Cannon was the owner of a hat and fur store on Purchase Street before which stood, to the delight and terror of local children, a large stuffed bear, standing upright and threatening. He is better known, however, for his role as Deacon of the North Congregational Church. He helped to establish a mission church at the corner of Rockdale and Kempton Streets, an area thereafter known as Cannonville. The Deacon Cannon house is square in plan and, like many Italianate homes in New Bedford, it is topped by a hip roof with a belvedere.
334 Union Street, Tilson B. Denham, 1858
334 Union Street, Tilson B. Denham, 1858Tilson B. Denham was a prominent figure in business and in government. His bakery thrived at a time when over three hundred whaling ships drew supplies from New Bedford merchants. He was once elected to the state legislature. Denham died in 1899, and his widow survived until 1903; for nearly half a century, Tilson B. Denham and his heirs owned this property. Italianate features such as the round-topped windows on the western gable and the brackets under the roof line indicate its mid-century date.
330 Union Street and 324 Union Street
330 Union Street and 324 Union Both these dwellings are Italianate style with intersecting gables in the roof line, square plan, belvederes, bracketed eaves, round arched windows, and projecting elements at the entry. Both lots were purchased from James Arnold in 1856. The home at 324 was built for Nehemiah Waterman, a local auctioneer and amateur magician. The home at 330 Union Street was built for James Hammett, a dry-goods merchant. Hammett later described himself simply as a “broker” with an office in Boston, and eventually moved to that city, selling his home to a local grocer, Thomas Wilcox. The new owner was once the treasurer of the New Bedford Glass Company, predecessor of the Mount Washington Glass Company and Pairpoint Corporation.
