New Bedford Whaling Museum Bourne Building

Foundations:
The Old Dartmouth Historical Society was founded in 1903 for the purpose of ". . . creating and fostering an interest in the history of the territory included in Old Dartmouth [now the City of New Bedford and the towns of Acushnet, Dartmouth, Fairhaven, and Westport]; of promoting historical research; of collecting documents and relics and providing for their proper custody" (from the Articles of Incorporation). The Society established the Whaling Museum in 1907 to tell the story of American whaling and to describe the role New Bedford played as the whaling capital of the world in the nineteenth century.

Today:
The Museum is the largest museum in America devoted to the history of the American whaling industry and its greatest port. Through exhibits, publications, and programs, the Museum brings to life the whaling era and the history of the local area. It houses the most extensive collection of art, artifacts, and manuscripts pertaining to American whaling in the age of sail - late eighteenth century to the early twentieth, when sailing ships dominated merchant trade and whaling.