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1893 Map of New Bedford

Name: 1893 Topographic Map of New Bedford
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1910
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1910

About this map

New Bedford serves as the industrious center of this coastal survey, where the Acushnet River meets New Bedford Harbor. The landscape is defined by its maritime infrastructure and early industrial rail lines, including the Fall River and New Bedford Railroad and the Fairhaven Branch of Old Colony Railroad. These tracks connect the bustling waterfront with surrounding villages like Fairhaven, Mattapoisett, and the mill-focused settlement at Turners Mills.

Coastal geography is intricately detailed, from the long finger of Sconticut Neck to the various lights aiding navigation into the harbor, such as Neds Point Light and Clark Point Light. Inland, the terrain is a complex of wetlands including the Great Cedar Swamp and Acushnet Cedar Swamp, separated by modest elevations like Mendall Hill. The map preserves the late 19th-century arrangement of coastal estates at Nonquitt and small rail-stop communities like Braleys Station, before the expansion of modern infrastructure altered the Bristol County shoreline.