“In the same New Bedford
there stands a Whalemans Chapel,
and few are the moody fishermen,
shortly bound for the Indian Ocean or Pacific,
who failed to make a Sunday visit to this spot.”
Herman Melville’s Moby-Dick
Welcome and thank you for visiting the New Bedford Port Society website. If you have not already visited our historic Seamen’s Bethel, we hope that you will plan a trip to experience one of America’s maritime heritage treasures.
In the late 1820′s, when New Bedford’s whaling industry was at its peak , several of the city’s leading citizens gave their deep consideration to the “character building” of nearly five thousand seamen employed out of this port. On June 2, 1830 they organized under the title of the New Bedford Port Society, for the moral improvement of seamen and later became incorporated under the following act: An Act To Incorporate The New Bedford Port Society For The Moral Improvement Of Seamen.
The New Bedford Port Society maintains the historic Seamen’s Bethel and Mariners’ Home. Located on top of Johnny Cake Hill, the Seamen’s Bethel is the “Whalemen’s Chapel” of the epic novel Moby Dick by Herman Melville. Inside, historic tablets or cenotaphs, chronicle the sacrifices of the maritime community, listing the names of those mariners lost at sea. The Bethel is still used by the community as a venue for weddings, funerals, memorials, and other religious activities. Due to its association for more than 170 years with New Bedford whalemen and other sailors that “Go Down to the Sea in Ships”, it has become known in the ports of every ocean on the globe.
The Mariners’ Home, formerly the mansion of William Rotch Jr. was presented to the Port Society in 1851. The building was moved to Johnny Cake Hill, just north of the Bethel where it now stands. The Port Society has continually rendered aid to the spiritual and moral needs of seaman and their families. Though not open to the public, it is still used as an overnight haven for fishermen and merchant mariners.
This post is tagged New Bedford Port Society
