NOT QUITE CAPE COD
City of New Bedford was once a powerhouse of whaling, textiles
“I have some folks here who are painting the other side of the house,” my Airbnb host messaged me before a road trip to New Bedford, Massachusetts. “The guys are really quite awesome/talented artists, lots of good vibes.”
Indeed, when Aaren, my travel partner, and I found our home for two nights — a one-bedroom apartment in an 1855 Victorian that was once apparently rented by Herman Melville’s sister — three painters were updating the house’s exterior with cream, orange, blue and warm gray colors.
These days, the entire city, approximately 60 miles from Boston, seems to be getting a fresh coat of paint. Signs of rejuvenation are everywhere.
Once the world’s wealthiest city per capita and a powerhouse in whaling and textile manufacturing, New Bedford fell into decline in the mid- and late 20th century, enduring a high crime rate, high unemployment and urban blight. If they stopped at all, many travelers would stay only for a meal, or a visit to the New Bedford Whaling Museum, before continuing via ferry to Martha’s Vineyard or driving Interstate 195 to Cape Cod.
New Bedford continues to lean heavily into its maritime past. But there’s a focus on the present, too. Old textile mills are being reimagined, new restaurants are thriving and parks are expanding to better tell the city’s history of promoting equality. Museums, artist studios and performance spaces speak to investment in the creative class. As for the future, the first train service from Boston since the late 1950s is expected to start in 2023.
New Bedford does not rely on tourism, though everywhere we went, we met proud residents — from the volunteer docent at the Whaling Museum to the curator at New Bedford Free Public Library.
“There’s no Cape Cod pretentiousness in the city, because we’re not really Cape Cod. We’re the South Coast,” said Allie Copeland, the curator, adding that New Bedford “has a very cool kind of vibe now.”
A creative economy
Our first evening, after stopping at the Quahog Republic Whaler’s Tavern for a golden ale and a Mai Tai, Aaren and I met Bev Ehrich and Carl Freedman. The couple had recently moved from Providence, Rhode Island, to the nearby village of Little Compton. They had driven in for dinner with another couple at Union Flats, a seafood restaurant that opened last winter. The four friends raved about the monkfish and mackerel, as well as the city’s jazz and other cultural draws.
“The only reason we used to come here when we lived in Providence was to get the ferry,” said Ehrich, 69. “Now we are coming for fabulous restaurants, museums and music.”
In 2017, Margo Saulnier became the creative strategist for New Bedford, charged with implementing an arts and culture program. Since then, the city and partners have used
grants and other funding to host free events, solicit and assist local artists to create public murals, and more.
For the people who visit, New Bedford can be relatively inexpensive. The art collection at the library displays work by contemporary artists like Adrian R. Tio, as well as old favorites from Ralph Fasanella, Albert Bierstadt and John James Audubon. At the Cape Verdean restaurant Izzy’s, a heaping breakfast of cachupa rafugado, scrambled eggs and linguica costs $13. The “See NB in Three” pass allows entry to the New Bedford Fishing Heritage Center, New Bedford Art Museum and the Rotch-Jones-Duff House & Garden Museum — whose rose beds alone are worth the fee.
A complex past
The collapse of the whale population at the end of the 19th century came as textile mills were being built, transforming the cityscape. But as manufacturing in the South gained prominence in the mid-20th century, these factories closed and New Bedford languished. The situation grew bleaker in the ’90s after local fisheries collapsed.
“For 50 or 60 years, there’s been nothing going on because the textile plants closed up,” said Freedman, 71, at Union Flats. “Those energy-consuming industries will never fill these big buildings ever again. And that’s why reimagining these buildings is the future.”
I spent the next morning walking around one reimagined mill in the city’s South End neighborhood.
Kilburn Mill, built in 1903 and expanded in 1910, is a three-building complex now home to shops, gyms, music performances and the Dough Co. restaurant, which sells a delicious “Green Giant” egg sandwich with greens, pickled onions and goat cheese.
Breakfast fueled us as we toured museums and strolled the streets. The highlight of the day was the Whaling Museum, dedicated to the brutal industry that transformed New Bedford and the world. The museum offers a rich collection — whale skeletons hanging from the ceilings, an explorable replica of a whaling ship, art collections and more.
On the Harborwalk
Our last evening, we biked south to the Harborwalk, a walking and biking trail on the hurricane barrier that protects the New Bedford Harbor. The massive sea wall, built in the 1960s, rises 20 feet above the Acushnet River and offers views of lighthouses, ships and passing ferries. Just beyond one set of its massive barrier gates lies Cisco Brewers Kitchen & Bar, a 3.5-acre restaurant and bar outdoor space with picnic tables, live music and a dock for water-going guests. Aaren ordered food to share, and we settled in to enjoy the scene.
Farther south is the city’s East Beach and Fort Taber Park, a 50-acre green space and military museum, but those would have to wait for another visit. We finished our fried clams, listened to one last song and, in the cool ocean breeze, got back on our bikes.