Town of Fairhaven
Incorporated - February 22, 1812

In 1652 John Cooke, one of the original Pilgrims, started a new settlement in Fairhaven. The territory of Dartmouth, which included the present towns of Fairhaven, New Bedford, Dartmouth, and Acushnet, was purchased from Massasoit and his son, Wamsutta.

The earliest settlements in the newly acquired territory were in Oxford and on Sconticut Neck, now part of Fairhaven. It is said that the first white baby born in these parts was born on Sconticut Neck. When King Philip's War broke out, the area was the scene of massacre and counter attack. To protect the colonists, John Cooke built two garrisons, one of which was in Oxford.

The Straggling components of Fairhaven Center began cohesion when, in 1760, Elnathan Pope conveyed to Noah Allen and 13 other men 20 acres of land which they subsequently divided into 40 lots. Under the influence and enterprise of wealthy members of this syndicate, Fairhaven village developed in this restricted area. The tract became the nuclear area for a network of streets. Flanking this tightly developed tract, the waterfront shore line flourished with shipbuilding, marine commerce and whalers' outfitting establishments.

Perhaps the earliest productive core of population in Fairhaven had been the area known as Oxford, now called Poverty Point. At least 15 great ships were built in the yards of the point and whalers set out directly from Oxford. However, in 1796-97 a New Bedford/Fairhaven bridge was erected that halted the shipbuilding north of its location. This plunged the area into economic hardships, thus the name "Poverty Point."

The first Naval engagement of the Revolution took place when Captain Nathaniel Pope sailed out into the bay on May 14, 1775, to capture two British vessels and bring them and their crews to the village wharf. In 1778 thirty-eight men built a fort where Fort Phoenix presently stands. After a raid by the British, who were stopped by a group of minutemen, the fort was rebuilt in days by community effort. The new fort, named Fort Fearing in honor of its commander, was two years later renamed Fort Phoenix for the bird who rises from his own ashes.

During the war of 1812, Fairhaven staunchly supported President Madison. The Jeffersonian embargoes, designed to protect Ameican citizens and to deter outbreak of war with Britain, were supported by the people of Fairhaven. New Bedford's citizens, on the other hand, vigorously opposed the Embargo Act. The clash led to open hostilities between the two communites and it was at this time that Fairhaven decided to withdraw and to establish its own township separate and independent of New Bedford.

From 1850 to 1860 whaling was at its height. When Joshua Slocum, later in the century, sailed his sloop, SPRAY, around the world and became the first man to do so and write an account of his voyage, he painted "Boston" on the stern of his craft, thinking that no one would have heard of Fairhaven. The natives on the islands of the Pacific, as it turned out, had never heard of Boston, but had, indeed, heard of Fairhaven, because of the frequent visits of whalers to their shores.

Captain William Whitfield, while sailing in the Pacific, rescued a shipwrecked Japanese boy, Manjiro Nakahama, and brought him to Fairhaven where he saw to his education. After several years the boy returned to Japan and when Admiral Perry sailed into Tokyo, Nakahama acted as interpreter. There is an ongoing close friendship between the descendents of Nakahama and the people of Fairhaven.

During the Civil War men and boys from Fairhaven joined the Union army. In 1861, when the Great Stone Fleet left the harbor, loaded with stone, to blockade southern ports, three of that fleet were from Fairhaven. The Abolitionist movement was strong in the town and stops of the underground railway were located here. Fairhaven homes still exist which have secret rooms and passageways where fugitive slaves were hidden.

In 1840 Henry Huttleston Rogers was born in Fairhaven. Just after oil was discovered in Pennsylvania he left Fairhaven for that state to seek his fortune. He eventually became a Standard Oil magnate, along with John Rockefeller, and was worth over 100 million dollars at his death in 1909.

Rogers met Samuel Clemens, Mark Twain, in New York in 1893. At the time Twain was on the verge of bankruptcy. Rogers saved him and the two became close friends with Twain frequently visiting Rogers in Fairhaven. Twain interested his friend in furthering Helen Keller's education at Radcliffe, delivered the dedication speech at the opening of Fairhaven Town Hall in 1894, and also gave a humorous speech at the cornerstone laying of the Unitarian Memorial Church. The Millicent Library displays a bronze tablet dedicated to Mark Twain.

Henry Huttleson Rogers gave to his hometown several magnificent buildings - Fairhaven High School, the Town Hall, Millicent Library, Rogers Grammar School, and the Unitarian Church. In addition, he drained the Mill Pond creating Cushman Park and connecting Fairhaven Center with Oxford. A granite shaft on the High School lawn is dedicated to Rogers.

Historical Sites

Fort Phoenix, pre- Revolutionary fort with cannon in place.
Fairhaven High School (1906), route 6 and Main Street
Unitarian Memorial Church (1904), 102 Green Street
Millicent Library (1893), 45 Centre Street
First Congregational Church (1844), 34 Centre Street
Sawin-Howland Mansion (1831), 44 William Street
Henry Huttleston Rogers Boyhood Home, 39 Middle Street
The Waterfront, Union Wharf, D.N. Kelley Shipyard, Hathaway-Braley Wharf
Captain Alexander Windsor House, 10 William Street
Captain Warren Delano House, 39 Walnut Street
Old Academy Building (1798), Route 6 and Main Street
John Cooke and Joshua Slocom Memorials, Pilgrim Avenue