Old Dartmouth Historical Society
18 Johnny Cake Hill
New Bedford, MA 02740
508 997-0046
See the museum's official Web site for hours and admission information.
The New Bedford Whaling Museum is the largest museum in the country dedicated to the history of American whaling in the 19th Century. Located on historic Johnny Cake Hill, the Whaling Museum is a tribute to one of the most prosperous and colorful eras in New Bedford history.
You can experience a sailor's life as you climb aboard the Lagoda, an 89 ft. model of a 19th-century whaleship. At one-half scale, it is the largest ship model in the world. In addition to the Lagoda, the Museum also houses a thirty foot, fully-rigged whaleboat.
The new Jacobs Family Gallery contains the reconstructed skeleton of a rare Blue whale. The 65-foot whale was killed in an accidental collision with a large ship off the coast of Rhode Island in 1997. The National Marine Fisheries Service selected the New Bedford Whaling Museum as the most appropriate institution to prepare, display, and present educational programs about the whale.
Other Museum galleries feature scrimshaw, paintings, decorative figureheads, and an 1848 panorama that shows the way of life aboard a whaleship. Many of the Museum's artifacts and exhibits represent the international flavor of the 19th Century whaling trade. Whaling ships traveled the world's oceans on multi-year voyages, often returning with artifacts obtained from the many exotic places they visited. These items are on display here at the New Bedford Whaling Museum.
The Museum also presents exhibits in tribute to the contributions of ordinary sailors who crewed aboard whaleships, many of whom were Cape Verdean, African-American, West Indian, and Polynesian.
Also housed within the Museum's six-building complex are displays illustrating industries that supported the whaling trade, as well as a collection of fine glassware. A whaling movie is shown daily in the Museum's theater.
While visitng the Museum, you can also follow Herman Melville's 1840 voyage aboard the whaler Acushnet, which inspired him to write his classic novel, Moby-Dick. In fact, you can even attend the Whaling Museum's marathon reading of Moby-Dick in one non-stop, 24-hour period each year from noon January 3rd to noon January 4.
The Whaling Museum is directly across the street from the Seamen's Bethel, the "Whaleman's Chapel" made famous by Herman Melville in Moby-Dick.
