Central New Bedford Historic District

Central New Bedford Historic District is the downtown core of the Massachusetts city, a compact area of about eighty buildings, mostly commercial or institutional and none taller than five stories. Classical Revival designs dominate, built in granite, marble, limestone, brick and cast stone. Key buildings include the Greek Revival Free Public Library, designed in 1838-39 by Russell Warren, the Renaissance Revival City Hall, the Romanesque Revival Duff Building of 1889, the Registry of Deeds by Samuel Hunt, the Standard Times Building by Peabody and Stearns, and the monumental Post Office by Oscar Wenderoth. The district was listed because it reflects the prosperity brought by the textile industry after whaling declined, when business moved west away from the waterfront and mill capital funded new buildings. Two main building periods, around 1890 and 1910, shaped its character. It has few intrusions and remains the city's civic and commercial center.