The Seamen's Bethel
Saving Mariners' Souls
After months at sea, many whaling men were unable to resist the temptations of this port city. In 1832, the New Bedford Port Society for the Moral Improvement of Seamen opened this mariners' chapel "to protect the rights and interests of Seamen, and to furnish them with moral, intellectual and religious instruction."
By supplying Bibles and nondenominational services, the Bethel (chapel) hoped to combat all those influences to which the port's mariners fell prey-liquor, licentiousness, and dishonest merchants. A survey in 1852 found 37 "liquor shops" and 21 "houses of ill repute" in this ward alone.
Marker is on 1st Street just north of Union Street, on the right when traveling south.
Courtesy hmdb.org
