Acushnet Heights Historic District

Acushnet Heights Historic District is a densely built neighborhood in New Bedford with wooden houses and brick buildings dating mostly to the middle 1800s. The streets follow a tight grid pattern that reflects how the area was planned as a working-class settlement.

The neighborhood took shape in the 1860s as New Bedford became a busy port and needed housing for thousands of workers. Most buildings were constructed quickly to shelter workers employed in nearby mills and shipping operations.

Four churches built in the 1800s sit among the homes and show how much religion mattered to the working families who lived here. These buildings remain gathering places for the neighborhood today.

You can walk through the district to see the buildings and streets at your own pace, especially along the main roads between Purchase Street and County Street. Visiting during the day helps you notice the building details and get a sense of how the neighborhood is laid out.

The neighborhood contains an old streetcar barn, a surviving piece of transportation infrastructure from the early 1900s that connected workers to their jobs. This building is a reminder of how important public transportation was to daily life in a working-class district.