| The Town of Fairhaven is a
suburban/fishing/resort community on Buzzard's Bay. The town suffered both
material damage and loss of life during the raids and battles of King
Philip's war and significant settlement took place only after the war.
Until the middle of the 18th century, the town's economy was agricultural.
Beyond that point there is a shift toward maritime activities such as
shipbuilding, whaling and foreign trade focusing on the town's wharves. By
1838, Fairhaven was the second busiest whaling port in the country and at
its peak the town boasted 46 ships and 1,324 men engaged in bringing back
over $600,000 worth of whale products annually. Discovery of oil in
Pennsylvania coming on the heels of a national depression ended whaling
and the town turned to such industries as tack making. In 1903, the
American Tack Company's new plant was said to be the largest and best tack
mill in the world. Prominent Fairhaven resident Henry Huttleston Rogers
went to Pennsylvania to learn about the oil industry and after making
himself an oil millionaire, Rogers re-made his home town. He donated the
town hall, library, church, schools, streets and water system. The
buildings make up the state's finest collection of public buildings,
almost all designed by Boston architect Charles Brigham. The community
began taking on the character of a suburban town in the late 1870's when
the street railway connected Fairhaven to New Bedford. At the same time
Fairhaven began to develop as a summer resort area with significant rural
areas still the site of working farms.
Narrative based on information provided by the
Massachusetts Historical Commission |
