Historic New Bedford

New Bedford, Massachusetts-The Downtown New Bedford Business District will grow again this week with the grand opening of a full-service florist shop on Purchase Street.  Ana Grochmal, proprietor of “The White Bouquet,” a successful florist shop previously established in South Dartmouth has relocated her business to a Downtown New Bedford storefront at 763 Purchase Street.  The White Bouquet is a full service florist shop that provides services for weddings and all special occasions.

NEW BEDFORD, MA – On Saturday, April 5, 2008 the downtown New Bedford AHA! (Art History Architecture) cooperative project will host a fundraising event - AHA! Fast Forward.  The event will begin with a Sunset Tapas Dinner and Wine Cruise on the New England Fast Ferry (boarding at 5:30 p.m./departing at 6 p.m.) followed by a waterfront Dessert and Dancing Reception at the ferry terminal from 8 p.m. to 11:00 p.m.  The terminal, at 49 State Pier, New Bedford, will be transformed for the evening into a stylish night spot. A cash bar will be available and there will be a silent auction full of unique items. 

New Bedford's Hetty Green and Fall River's Lizzie Borden, perhaps the two most infamous women to ever come out of Southeastern Massachusetts, were contemporaries in both time and place.

“Muddy March” AHA! Night celebrates the earth beneath our feet and the feel of clay in our hands. Visitors may try their hand at the potter’s wheel, watch the creation of life-sized mud paintings and learn about how quahoggers dig in the muck for the savory seafood. On exhibit will be ceramics by local artists that are both intricate and functional. This evening will also feature several artist lectures from recently opened exhibits, live music and the much anticipated Echo Performing Art Festival at the Whaling Museum. Participating AHA! venues will be open late offering a variety of exhibits, live music, shopping and fine dining.

White Knight Gallery, New Bedford - The downtown community bows its head in respect to two pioneers in its burgeoning arts and business community, Alda Roderiques and Marybeth Vargas, who are retiring as of this month. For the past seven years, the store and its owners have been a steadfast part of the tight-knit William St. community. 2007 marked the stores’ tenth year in business, the first three of which were in Acushnet. Since their bold move to New Bedford, these ladies’ influence has stretched up and down the block, eventually  side-by-side with stores like Solstice, Artificial Marketplace, Joe Piper’s, Simmons Brothers and No Problemo, to name a few. Not to mention the growing number of artists and musicians working upstairs and selling their art downtown.

AHA! invites you to celebrate Black History Month. This month the focus is on the rich cultural history and contributions of people of color to the city of New Bedford.

AHA! will be joining First Night as a FREE venue on December 31st from 5-9pm with a "Fire and Ice" celebration in downtown New Bedford. AHA! Program Director Lee Heald states that AHA! received over $90,000 in in-kind support in 2007 from local non-profit venues and businesses and that this evening is as a way of showing appreciation to the downtown community and partner venues.

New Bedford, Massachusetts- The City of New Bedford Planning Department has completed a survey and planning project to amend its nomination for the County Street National Register Historic District.  A public meeting to present the research and findings associated with the new nomination will be held on Monday, December 17, 2007, 6:30 PM at the Rotch-Jones-Duff House & Garden Museum at 396 County Street.

Museums are often looked upon as bastions of the “old.”  They are home to items, both natural and man-made, that can date back millions of years.

To herald the holiday season, residents of New Bedford’s historic neighborhoods will once again be opening their beautifully restored homes for the New Bedford Preservation Society’s 16th Annual Holiday House Tour - December 1 and 2.

The New Bedford Whaling Museum, like many of the cultural organizations in New England (and the rest of the world for that matter), has much more to it than meets the eye.  For every object on display there are 50 in storage.  For every elementary or high school that visits, there are dozens of students.  And for every story contained within its walls, there are thousands more yet to be told.

The New Bedford Whaling Museum welcomes over 100,000 visitors through its doors each year.  These guests are treated to ship models, whale skeletons, beautiful scrimshaw pieces, photographs, weaponry, household items and thousands of other objects that, together, tell the story of whaling in New Bedford.

WHALE HOSTS WALKING TOUR OF NEW BEDFORD WHALING NATIONAL HISTORCAL PARK & DOWNTOWN on THURSDAY, AUGUST 16, 2007 at 6:30PM

Attia Clothing is located in Historic Downtown New Bedford at 173 Union Street. Attia is the premier clothing boutique North of Providence and South of Boston. Attia Clothing is redefining the image for New Bedford and South Eastern Massachusetts style. The boutique will carry labels such as 7, Joe’s Jeans, Paper Denim and Cloth, Citizens and True Religion, along with many of the recently discovered and undiscovered designers.

On Saturday, August 18 from 7-11 p.m., the New Bedford Whaling Museum will hold its second annual summer party, Over the Top – Under the Stars.  Like last year’s Over the Top, this event will be held in the most unique space on the South Coast – the Museum’s plaza and Jacobs Family Gallery, under the hanging bones of the blue whale.

Last week, the Whaling Museum hosted the annual teacher institute, Portraits of a Port, in which educators from New Bedford Public schools gathered at the Whaling Museum’s Research Library to explore, learn, and share ideas about incorporating aspects of local history into their curriculums. The focus this year was on the people and places of New Bedford during the time of the Civil War, 1860-1865.

New Bedford, Massachusetts- Secretary of the Commonwealth, William Francis Galvin acting in his role as Chairman of the Massachusetts Historical Commission, recently announced that the City of New Bedford has been selected for a matching grant allocation of $30,000 from the Massachusetts Historic Commission’s Round 13: Massachusetts Preservation Projects Fund pending reauthorization of the capital accounts and the availability of sufficient allocated funds. This year’s highly competitive round of funding received seventy-nine applications with New Bedford being selected as one of eighteen recipients.

In 2007, WHALE – the Waterfront Historic Area LeaguE – celebrates an important milestone - 45 Years of Historic Preservation! This is the story of WHALE – of ordinary people who did and continue to do extraordinary things.

Have you looked closely at New Bedford's familiar landmarks? Come spend a day in the city, see the beauty within and learn more about it's treasures...

June 25th, 2007 - Letter to New Bedford City Council from Mayor Scott W. Lang regarding his veto of City Council's vote to demolish Cliftex Mills complex...

New Bedford, MA.  People First, a coalition of labor and community activists, today called on the New Bedford City Council to change its position on the proposed demolition of the Cliftex Mill building.  The group held a symbolic picket line during the noon hour to press the Council to reverse its earlier position to permit the demolition of the mill building.