Posted on November 29, 2016 by Jenny ONeill
Whaling was a dangerous business. On long voyages so many things could go wrong. Men got sick far from land. They fell overboard. Boats were stove by whales. Ships were wrecked, or simply never heard from again. And sometimes, men went to great extremes to survive. The following stories are all true, and all happened […]
Continue ReadingPosted on July 7, 2016 by Jenny ONeill
Westport’s Unique Shipbuilding Challenges In the early years, launching boats and conducting business on the Noquochoke (East Branch of the Westport River) was relatively straightforward. Boats were generally of the smaller variety, and the unique locations of launching points and river crossings did little to impact the boatbuilding business. With the advent of the whaling […]
Continue ReadingPosted on April 21, 2016 by Jenny ONeill
It doesn’t take long for one to realize that Buzzard’s Bay coastal communities are a special place; pristine, tranquil places filled with charm and nostalgia. The sun-bleached capes and manicured captain’s homes that rim these country lanes remind us of a time when the sea was our connection to the World, and our forefather’s fortitude […]
Continue ReadingPosted on April 21, 2016 by Jenny ONeill
Where did they build these ships? There appears to be very little documented evidence of exactly where early boat building took place, it is easy to surmise that many locations along the inland waterways around Westport were extremely well-suited to the building and launching of virtually any sea-going vessel. Head of Westport On either side […]
Continue ReadingPosted on December 30, 2015 by Jenny ONeill
By Tony Connors Most sources describing Westport’s split from Dartmouth say something like: “In 1787 Westport separated from Dartmouth and was incorporated as an independent town.” That’s it! But we know that it must have been more difficult than that. Separations are always contentious, involving negotiations, accusations, winners and losers. While this makes the story […]
Continue ReadingPosted on February 3, 2015 by Jenny ONeill
Our collection includes a bound set of The Non-Slaveholder, a 19th century publication with a special approach to the anti-slavery movement. “Whoso gives the motive, makes his brother’s sin his own.” This caption appears under the title of “The Non-Slaveholder”, a mid-19th century publication dedicated to the anti-slavery movement. The publication focused not only on […]
Continue ReadingPosted on February 2, 2015 by Jenny ONeill
This article was written by Christa M. Beranek and Katharine M. Johnson Fiske Center for Archaeological Research, University of Massachusetts Boston This project was paid for by Community Preservation Act Funds from the Town of Westport. Collected artifacts are property of the Town of Westport, donated by Muriel Bibeau, property owner. Introduction The Waite-Kirby-Potter House […]
Continue ReadingPosted on February 2, 2015 by Jenny ONeill
In the early 20th century seven major companies were engaged in the production and sales of “kit homes.” Sears Roebuck and Company was one of the best known. While potential home owners could buy almost everything they needed to build a house—down to the blueprints–from a Sears Catalogue as early as 1908, it was not […]
Continue ReadingPosted on February 2, 2015 by Jenny ONeill
We see her name on the street sign in the center of Westport: Charlotte White Road. She is mentioned in local history books as a healer, a midwife, a poet. But what do we really know about Charlotte White? Let’s start with her name. The typical pronunciation of the name Charlotte is “Shar-lot” but there […]
Continue ReadingPosted on February 2, 2015 by Jenny ONeill
We all learned the word secession in school, and probably associated it with South Carolina’s departure from the Union in late 1860. But the concept is not just about civil war, or specifically related to states. To secede is to withdraw formally from membership in an organization, association, or alliance. And in the 1920s, the […]
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