 The Merrill's Wharf National
Register Historic District contains just under one acre of land on the New
Bedford Waterfront and includes the Coral Pocket Pier, the Steamship Authority
Pier, the unaltered portion of Merrill's Wharf, and the Merrill's Wharf
Building. The Wharf Building is also known as the Bourne Counting House and the
Durant Sail Loft.
The three piers retain their original wooden pilings
and wooden plank surfacing. he Coral Pocket Pier was built in the 1850s as a
whaling pier for Captain Merrill's operations. It was later used as an
unloading site for coal for the utility company, to came to be known by its
present name. It is now used by the city's lobster boats.
The Steamship
Authority Pier was built in 1838 and was the debarking points for boats to the
island for well over 100 years. In the 1950s the Steamship Authority moved to
Woods Hole. The pier is presently used by lobstermen.
The Merrill's
Wharf Building was built in 1847-1848 and originally stood 3-1/2 stories with a
ridge roof topped by a cupola and full gables with loading doors on the facade
and rear elevations. The attic loft floor was removed after a fire in 1926.
Original fenestration was 6/6 sash windows.
The Merill's Wharf historic
District is significant as the only remaining unaltered portion of New
Bedford's 19th century waterfront. The structures were all built during the
first half of the 19th century, the heyday of New Bedford's whaling era. The
property was originally owned by the Rotch family, selling it to Captain
Merrill in 1837. He built the counting house and two of the piers for his
whaling business. The Merrill family owned the property until 1905. In 1848,
Edward Bourne established his whaling concern on this site. Bourne eventually
owned more whaling ships than any other ship owner in New England. His counting
house office interior was donated and moved to the Whaling Museum. In 1925,
Gilkey, Durant, and Company started their sail making business here, until
closing in1968. |
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