Palmer’s Island is a small island with great views of the harbor. When you visit New Bedford with your Plymouth, Massachusetts van rental, you can get here by walking on the hurricane dike, but you will get stranded during high tide if you are still here! There is also a historic lighthouse here, which was built in 1849. The lighthouse was discontinued in the 1960s when the hurricane barrier was built, as lights were built on each side of the barrier opening.

Exploring the lighthouse

When you are in New Bedford with your Plymouth, Massachusetts rental van, you will learn this was once an important whaling community. As such, it was important that there was a lighthouse to guide the ships back into the harbor. The Palmer Island Light Station is located on the northern point of Palmer’s Island, which was named for one of the first settlers of Dartmouth. In its hay day, there were 239 whaling ships in this whaling capital of the country, in the 1850s. To aid navigation, the Palmer Island Light started illuminating the night sky in 1849. The original tower still stands today, although the keeper’s dwelling and walkway (1849), fog signal building (1900), and oil house (1905) were all destroyed by the Hurricane of 1938. In 1963, there was a hurricane barrier constructed just south of the island, and the light house was no longer needed. Unfortunately, the light house is not open to the public, except by special arrangement. But, you can get great views of the lighthouse and the harbor by boat when you visit with your van rental Plymouth.

Getting to know the area

New Bedford is a city about 51 miles from Boston and 28 miles from Providence, Rhode Island. It is a small city with less than 100,000 people, and was once the “Whaling City” as one of the most important whaling ports in the world at the time. Whale oil and candles made from whales were important products at the time, and this area would manufacture them, and made this one of the richest cities, per capita, in the world. In fact, Herman Melville worked in New Bedford for a period of time and set his novel Moby Dick in part here. Today, fishing and manufacturing are still important industries in the area. Tourism is also a growing industry, and there is plenty to do when you are here with your rental van Plymouth. If you are here in the summer, there are a number of fairs and festivals that take place, including festivals that celebrate the whaling history of the area.

What to do

The New Bedford Whaling Museum can be found here with your Plymouth, Massachusetts van rental, which is the centerpiece of the New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park. This is the largest museum in the country on the history of whaling and the impact it had on the area. This city also has a number of historic districts that you can explore. They include the Acushnet Heights Historic District, Buttonwood Park Historic District, Central New Bedford Historic District, County Street Historic District, Howland Mill Village Historic District, Merrill’s Wharf Historic District, Moreland Terrace Historic District, New Bedford Historic District, and the North New Bedford Historic District. Of course, there are other things other than historic museums to see here. The New Bedford Art Museum offers exhibitions of artwork with local and international art, as well as Gallery X, which features a community art gallery.

When you visit with your Plymouth, Massachusetts van rental, you will find that New Bedford has a lot to offer, including great views of Palmer’s Island.