Palmer’s Island Lighthouse (inner harbor)

This Whaling Era lighthouse was built out of rubble masonry with a wooden vestibule in 1849. The City’s motto, Lucem Diffundo, means I diffuse Light, alluding to New Bedford’s fame as the whaling capital of the world. The use of the lighthouse was discontinued when the harbor’s hurricane barrier was built in the early 1960s. The location immediately north of the barrier was no longer in outlying danger because of the lights on either side of the barrier’s opening. The Light was restored for its 150th anniversary in August 30, 1999. Occasionally it is open for special events in season.