First Universal Church (Gallery X) 169 William Street, 1855, Italianate
169 William Street, First Universal Church, Gallery X, 1855, Italianate StyleThe church at 169 William Street was constructed in 1855 by the First Universalist Church, which was organized in 1835. The Universalist Church occupied the building until lack of membership caused the church to dissolve in 1932. The next congregation to occupy the church was the Pilgrim Church which purchased the church in May of 1933. Before resuming services the congregation made extensive repairs and alterations to the church. The architect for these alterations was Clyde L.Rounseville, who designed a minister's room inside the church, repaired the balcony, and redecorated the interior in the Colonial Revival style. The most significant alteration was the addition of a new tower, which retained the original base, but incorporated a new lantern and dome. The Pilgrim Church occupied the Williams Street building until it was sold to the congregation of Temple Sinai (1968-1977). From 1979 to 1994, the Frederick Douglass Memorial A. M. E. Zion Church occupied the building. Finally, the building was acquired by Gallery X, an artist cooperative group which currently and owns and operates the building.
First Baptist Church (The Steeple Playhouse) 149 William Street, 1829, Greek Revival
149 William Street, First Baptist Church, The Steeple Playhouse, 1829, Greek Revival StyleThe First Baptist Church congregation was founded in 1813. It constructed this white wood frame meetinghouse in 1829. Its roots go back to the time of John Cooke, the last surviving male passenger of the Mayflower. The land was purchased from William Barstow and had been previously owned by Daniel Ricketson. The meetinghouse is an excellent example of a transitional Federal/Greek Revival church with wood detailing derived from both the Greek and Roman classic traditions.It was individually listed in the National and State Registers of Historic Places in 1975 and is also a contributing property in the County Street National Register Historic District. National and international historical significance comes from one of its members, Lt. Henry Martyn Robert. Robert achieved world-wide acclaim for creating “Robert’s Rules of Order” which have been adopted as the standard for parliamentary procedures. Robert was inspired to create his rules due to his experience moderating a disorderly meeting held at the church in the 1860s.Current restoration efforts of the First Baptist Church have been undertaken by the Waterfront Area Historic League in collaboration with the local theater group “Your Theatre.
New Bedford Free Public Library, 613 Pleasant Street, c. 1838, Greek Revival Style
613 Pleasant Street, New Bedford Free Public Library, c. 1838, Greek Revival StyleThe current building at 613 Pleasant Street was built c. 1838 as the New Bedford City Hall. The City Hall was upstairs and downstairs was a public market place, common for city halls in the early 19th century. The building was originally designed by the architect Russell Warren (1789-1860) who was the signature architect in New Bedford during the Whaling era. In 1906 a fire destroyed the interior of the building. The present building was reconstructed after the fire between 1907 and 1909. Prominent New Bedford architect Nathaniel Smith (1866-1943) was hired to add wings on both sides and the back end to replicate the original Greek revival style. He was also responsible for completely redesigning the interior to include the marble staircases, rotunda and mosaic tile floors.Once reconstruction was complete, the buildings switched permanently and the City Hall became the New Bedford Free Public Library.
New Bedford City Hall, 133 William Street, 1850, Italianate Style
133 William Street, New Bedford City Hall, 1850, Italianate Style The original building at 133 William Street, the Free Public Library, was a square building designed by Solomon K. Eaton (1806-1871) In the 1850sThe architect was Samuel C Hunt (1858-1908) of New Bedford was hired to redesign the building that was to become the New Bedford City Hall. Incorporating the old building, Hunt designed a completely new building in the same Italianate or Renaissance Revival Style. The City Hall elevator is the oldest of its kind still running in the country.
Odd Fellows Building ( the Duff Building) 628 Pleasant Street, 1889, Romanesque Style
628 Pleasant Street, Odd Fellows Building ( the Duff Building), 1889, Romanesque StyleOdd Fellows were a national fraternal organization with a chapter in New Bedford. The upper level of building was beautifully designed with turrets and other architectural detail. The original architect was New Bedford designer Edgar B. Hammond (1853-1937). The building was sold to John Duff in 1913 and the top floor design was altered in 1934. It currently has office space on the upper floors and retail space on the street level.
Whaleman Statue
Whaleman Statue Sculptor: Bela Lyon Pratt (1867-1917). Installation: 1913.The Whaleman Statue is a gift of distinguished citizen William W. Crapo (1830-1926) to the City of New Bedford as a memorial to the Whaling Industry. Crapo commissioned the sculptor Bela Lyon Pratt to create thebronze statue. The base was designed by architect Nathaniel Smith. Unveiled Jun 20, 1913 on Library Square the statue depicts a boatsteerer about to harpoon a whale. The base is incised with the line of text, "A dead whale or a stove boat." “Stove Boat” means a smashed boat, suggesting a dead whale is better than a smashed boat. In the mid 1970’s the New Bedford Preservation Society undertook a significant preservation effort in cleaning 60 years of grime and green verdigris which was obliterating the bronze details.
The Textile Trust Building (Anthony S. Catojo Jr. Building) New Bedford Art Musuem
608 Pleasant Street, The Textile Trust Building (Anthony S. Catojo Jr. Building), c. 1918, Classical Revival The Textile Trust Building is a neoclassical style designed by Thomas M. James and was constructed around 1918 by E. A. Abbott, Company. Among the founders of the Textile Trust was Charles S. Ashley (1858-1941), long time Mayor of the City and John Neild, President of the Neild Mill. In 1922 the Textile Trust merged with the Safe Deposit National Bank. In 1924 the building was remodeled and the Safe Deposit National Bank merged with the First National Bank of New Bedford. It is currently the home of the New Bedford Art Museum with the City New Bedford Hosing Department occupying office space on the second floor.
Lewis Temple Memorial
Lewis Temple Memorial Sculptor: James C. Toatley (1941-1986). Installation: 1987.This statue was commissioned by the City of New Bedford in 1985 to honor Lewis Temple (1800-1854), a free black man and proprietor of a local blacksmith shop who invented the “Temple Toggle Iron” in 1848. The Temple Toggle has a pivoting head that would secure the harpoon into the whale’s flesh. This revolutionized the whaling industry. Lewis Temple was born in Richmond Virginia and arrived in New Bedford in 1929. In 1834, he was elected vice president of the New Bedford Union Society, Bedford village’s first anti-slavery society. No likeness of Temple exists, so the monument is based on a photograph of his son, Lewis Temple, Jr.
Union Boys Clubhouse and the Standard-Times Building, 555 Pleasant Street, 1894, Classical Revival
555 Pleasant Street, Union for Good Works - Union Boys Clubhouse and the Standard-Times Building, 1894, Classical RevivalThe building at 555 Pleasant Street is a five story classical revival style designed by Nathaniel Smith. The building is faced with yellow brick and terra cotta trim. Its rusticated ground floor contains round arched openings for both windows and doors. The Union for Good Works - Union Boys Clubhouse was an organization that promoted cordiality, altruism and general improvement.The Standard Times Building was built in the 1890’s by well-known architectural firm Peabody and Sterns of Boston and was originally four stories. The fifth story was added about 1912 and merged with the Union for Good Works Building. The original building had equal frontage on both Pleasant and Market Streets.At the time the Standard Times newspaper was known as the Evening Standard and was one of three newspapers published in New Bedford at the time. The others were the Morning Mercury (1831-1942) and the New Bedford Times 1902-1932). The Evening Standard, was published by abolitionist Edmund Anthony and began 1850. One week later on February 21, 1850, a weekly edition, the Republican Standard was introduced and was published until 1912. The Republican Standard printed news columns from the daily newspaper including some of the advertisements. The Standard-Times formed from the 1932 merger of The New Bedford Standard and The New Bedford Times.The Standard Times building now houses a restaurant, offices and apartments on the upper floors.
The Masonic Building, 211 Union Street, C. 1925
211 Union Street, The Masonic Building, C. 1925This building built by Sterns and Peabody and served as the Mason’s office building. The unique part of the building is its metal ornamentation metal. Using metal as ornamentation was unsual at the time.
The Eddy Building, 194 Union Street, 1889, Renaissance Revival
194 Union Street, The Eddy Building, 1889, Renaissance RevivalThe Eddy family were merchants and retailers. George Eddy Sr. operated a very successful retail business on this site in the mid-19th century. His sons, George Eddy Jr. and Abraham Eddy demolished the old building and erected a four story building in 1883. It was a model department store for the times. Legend has it that the Eddy family were the first merchants to hire women as sales clerks in New Bedford as well as to provide an elevator to its upper floors for their customers. The current building still has retail space on the first floor.
New Bedford Institute for Savings, 174 Union Street, 1896, Classical Revival
174 Union Street, New Bedford Institute for Savings, 1896, Classical Revival StyleThis bank building which resembles a temple from ancient Rome was designed by the Boston architect Charles Brigham (1841-1925). He is responsible for designing buildings such as the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Millicent Library, Fairhaven High School and the Annex to the Massachusetts State House. The interior of the building is beautifully designed with high quality materials such as Sienna Marble from Italy and Santo Domingo Mahogany from the Caribbean. The first two additions to the original building was added on 1924. The far left was added in the early 1980’s. Its design is a modern interpretation of the original design in materials and design. The building was occupied the New Bedford’s Ocean Explorium, a nonprofit organization established in 2008 which closed in 2014. Since then it has been a private charter school.
The Star Store (UMass Dartmouth CVPA) 715 Purchase Street, 1913, Neoclassical
715 Purchase Street, The Star Store (UMass Dartmouth CVPA), 1913, Neoclassical StyleDesigned by Architect Louis E. Destremps (1875-1919), this neoclassical building is detailed in Indiana limestone a popular decorative building material during this time.The Star Store was the anchor retail department store in the downtown for many years. The Star Store closed in 1985. The building remained vacant for some time until a long-term lease was secured by UMass Dartmouth. Local legislators took the initiative to secure public funding to rehabilitate the building exterior and interior. The Star Store was transformed into the urban satellite campus of the UMass Dartmouth College of Visual and Performing Arts opening in 2011. It had a profound impact on the revitalization of the downtown area by bringing a new creative class to the area.
