Revolutionary Innovation

Temple, a blacksmith at Coffin’s Wharf at the foot of Walnut Street in New Bedford, is most known for revolutionizing the whaling industry with the invention of the Temple Toggle Iron in 1848, a harpoon with a pivoting head that prevented dislodging during the struggle. Earlier in 1834, he was elected Vice President of the New Bedford Union Society, the then town of New Bedford’s first antislavery society. Visit the Temple monument in front of the New Bedford Free Public Library and see his harpoons inside the New Bedford Whaling Museum.

During a chaotic 24-hour meeting about port defense in 1863 at the First Baptist Church in New Bedford, Army Lt. Henry Martyn Roberts was motivated to create a guide to parliamentary procedures, a guide still used today. The steeple of the Greek Revival Church served as a landfall for whaling ships and is the only steeple depicted in the City Seal remaining today, thanks to the Waterfront Historic Area League. Now known as the Steeple Playhouse, the building serves as the performance space for the community theater group, Your Theatre, and accommodates other local artists and organizations for meetings and public events.

From 1876 to 1900, New Bedford was the home of the School of Instruction of the Revenue Cutter Service, predecessor of the United States Coast Guard Academy. Located on Fish Island, cadets of this branch of marine law enforcement trained on the USRC Salmon P Chase, named after the anti-slavery activist who served as Abraham Lincoln’s 24th Secretary of the Treasury. In 1915, the Revenue Cutter Service merged with the U.S. Lifesaving Service, forming the U.S. Coast Guard Academy.

The nature of the booming whaling industry in the 19th century necessitated a rapid growth of industry innovation and provided skill training in the trades required to sustain the industry. It also attracted European settlers, it employed formerly enslaved individuals and immigrants from Portugal, Cape Verde, and the Azores with maritime skills. The Indigenous population of Wampanoag was skilled in fishing and boating and worked in and informed the industry. Therefore, industry innovation created an environment that brought and sustained dynamic cultural diversity to New Bedford, making the city more ethnically varied than New York or Boston. Learn about New Bedford’s culture by visiting the resource guide below.