Changing Tides: The New Bedford Waterfront in Transition (1870-1980)

Once as America's richest whaling port, to its current status as the nation's #1 commercial fishing port, the New Bedford waterfront and the work that goes on there have seen enormous transformation. Installed in the San Francisco Room, which overlooks the harbor, the exhibit explores the port's many changes with images selected from the Museum's immense photo collection. The photographs date from the 1870s to the 1980s, revealing the port's many transitions and the evolution of the vessels calling it home.

Kate Mello, the Whaling Museum's Photo Archivist, is curator for the exhibit. "These images were selected from thousands of photos in our collection because they illustrate how dynamic the changes in the port have been over last 150 years. They underscore the ongoing change that only seems to accelerate with every passing year," said Ms. Mello.

  Schooner Mary E. Simmons and Bark Desdemona at Merrill's Wharf, photo by Orville Bassett