Palmer's Island, Panorama of a Whaling Voyage: (Roll 1, Section 2)
The Panorama Continues Out of New Bedford, Passing Palmer's Island Before Heading Out to Sea
"The Grand Panorama of a Whaling Voyage ‘Round the World" Roll 1, Section 3/44 (1848) by Benjamin Russell and Caleb Pierce PurringtonNew Bedford Whaling Museum
In this section of the "Grand Panorama of a Whaling Voyage ‘Round the World", the longest painting in North America, painted by Benjamin Russell and Caleb Pierce Purrington in 1848, you'll experience a depiction of a whaling voyage that stretches across the entire world.
Here, you can observe the south end of New Bedford, Massachusetts, along with Palmer's Island, as the journey progresses towards Clark's Point.
Voyage MapNew Bedford Whaling Museum
"Grand Panorama of a Whaling Voyage ‘Round the World"
This highlighted section of the voyage depicts New Bedford. Scroll through this story to continue the voyage.
"The Grand Panorama of a Whaling Voyage ‘Round the World" Roll 1, Section 3/44 (1848) by Benjamin Russell and Caleb Pierce PurringtonNew Bedford Whaling Museum
Section 3 of 44
South of New Bedford
The residences, mostly new, wood-frame houses, continue south of the growing city pushing closer to the industrial and rural sections further down on the peninsula.
An unidentified topsail schooner sails downriver past the City Planing Mill Wharf where large stacks of lumber await processing.
The head of Palmer’s Island where the Palmer’s Island lighthouse would be built in 1849 sits in the middle of the river. In the foreground the men are fishing from a rowboat.
Significantly and uniquely the Panorama artists included a view of a handsome structure on Palmer’s Island. By the 1860s this structure was a hotel, and while it may well have been one in the 1840s its uses remain undocumented.
The industrial and rural south section of the city includes the large and prosperous Leonard’s sperm oil refinery and candle manufacturing factory (identified by the smokestack just beyond Palmer’s Island.)
Located here are facilities for the making of salt from sea water utilizing windmills as water pumps, and some farms.
"The Grand Panorama of a Whaling Voyage ‘Round the World" Roll 1, Section 4/44 (1848) by Benjamin Russell and Caleb Pierce PurringtonNew Bedford Whaling Museum
Section 4 of 44
The salt works were extensive but were mostly located on the west side of the peninsula although they appear in the painting to be close by the river shores. The stone walls surrounding the small farm pastures are evidence of the region’s poor, rocky soil.
Geographically, the long, southeastward-facing point of the peninsula of Clark’s Point shelters the harbor of the Acushnet River from the prevailing southwesterly winds.
Note the large, new almshouse, built in 1847. Inmates worked on the nearby farms as well as the salt works.
Harbor shipping includes varieties of small craft and coastal vessels used to carry people and cargo, as well as a whaler, the ship Janus II of New Bedford, lying at anchor preparing to put to sea.
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