New Bedford, city, one of the seats (with Fall River and Taunton) of Bristol County, southeastern Massachusetts, at the mouth of the Acushnet River on Buzzards Bay; incorporated as a city 1847. It is an important port for fishing and shipping and is a manufacturing and tourist center. Principal products include sporting goods, clothing, electrical equipment, rubber products, surgical and medical instruments, and photographic equipment and supplies. In the city are Fort Taber, a 19th-century seacoast fortification; Seamen's Bethel, a chapel described by the American author Herman Melville in his novel Moby Dick (1851); and the New Bedford Whaling Museum. The site was settled about 1640 as part of the town of Dartmouth. The community grew after 1760 with the development of the whaling industry and shipbuilding. In 1778, during the American Revolution, the British burned the town, but by 1820 it had grown into a great whaling port. When whaling declined some 40 years later, textile production increased and by the early 20th century the city was a major producer of cotton fabric. The textile industry became less important here in the 1920s. In 1893 New Bedford was the site of the famous trial of Lizzie Borden, who was acquitted of murdering her father and stepmother. Population 98,478 (1980); 99,922 (1990); 93,768 (2000).Microsoft® Encarta® Online Encyclopedia 2001
http://encarta.msn.com © 1997-2001 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. New Bedford Information info
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