Posted on April 6, 2022 by Jenny ONeill
If you have driven by the Bell School in recent weeks, you may have noticed some significant activity is taking place. This project marks the beginning of a multi-phase effort to address structural weaknesses and to transform the Bell School into a resource that is more relevant to the community of Westport and better suited […]
Continue ReadingPosted on February 9, 2022 by Jenny ONeill
Written by Jenny O’Neill, Executive Director, Westport Historical Society 2022 What is the significance of this handwoven mat made in Newfoundland to the history of Westport? Named after Sir Wilfred Grenfell, a British doctor known for his humanitarian work among the fishermen of northern Newfoundland and Labrador, these Grenfell hooked mats have become prominent […]
Continue ReadingPosted on February 3, 2022 by Jenny ONeill
Can you imagine the life of Paul Cuffe? Ray Shaw, a Westport resident and graphic artist, uses watercolor sketches to help visualize the past. His graphite and loose watercolor ‘storybook’ style challenges the viewer to use their imagination to interpret a given subject.
Continue ReadingPosted on January 27, 2022 by Jenny ONeill
Read the journal and learn more about Frederick Allen at this link Westport Point, Massachusetts was a relatively small but active whaling port in the 1830s and 1840s, one of about 40 whaling ports in the Northeast. As a result, many young Westporters went “a-whaling”. One such young man was Frederick Allen (1809-1874), whose family […]
Continue ReadingPosted on January 14, 2022 by Jenny ONeill
Westport Town Farm 830 Drift Road, Westport MA Photography by David Allen, 2008 “From the buildings themselves to what artifacts may be left behind, there is a sense of lives lived. Narratives are suggested and the ephemeral nature of life and death is felt. These incremental photographic slices seek to explore the fluid, always changing […]
Continue ReadingPosted on January 8, 2022 by Jenny ONeill
“Over the hill to the poor-house – me child’rn dear, good-by! Many a night I’ve watched you when only God was nigh; And God’ll judge between us; but I will al’ays pray That you shall never suffer the half I do today.” Will Carleton, 1904 The Westport Historical Society has a temporary new […]
Continue ReadingPosted on December 17, 2021 by Jenny ONeill
The most famous and fascinating quilt in the Museum of Fine Art’s collection is the Harriet Powers Pictorial Quilt, which for 60 years hung in a house at Westport Point! The Pictorial Quilt is a center piece of the current exhibition at the MFA, Fabric of a Nation, American Quilt Stories. The story of the […]
Continue ReadingPosted on December 13, 2021 by Jenny ONeill
Westport farmer, Frederick Allen kept a journal. This section chronicles his voyage on the Mexico. April, 1837 Buys articles for voyage, including 5 lbs. of tobacco; Ships out of Westport on the Brig Mexico; Sails south, encountering strong gales. Saturday, April 1, 1837. Morning rainy ◄ SE. Afternoon fair ◄ NW. Most of the […]
Continue ReadingPosted on December 10, 2021 by Jenny ONeill
Posted on November 18, 2021 by Jenny ONeill
The Dartmouth highway records from the early 1700s note the existence of a ferry in the area where the bridge now stands, but do not mention who operated the ferry. By tradition, George Cadman operated the ferry before Mary Hix took it over ca1710. The highway records do state that a suitable crossing point across […]
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