Bristol County, Massachusetts

Academy Building Acushnet Heights Historic District Al Mac's Diner-Restaurant Algonquin Printing Co. Allen, Elisha, House American Printing Co. and Metacomet Mill Anawan Club Clubhouse and Caretaker's House Anawan Rock Angle Tree Stone Anthony, David M., House Anthony, David M., House Anthony, Harold H., House Apponegansett Meeting House Ashley House Assonet Historic District Attleborough Falls Gasholder Building Attleborough Falls Historic District Atwood, Charles R., House Baker House Bark Street School Barnard Mills Barneyville Historic District Barnum School Barrows, H.F., Manufacturing Company Building Bartlett, J.C., House Bassett, C.J.H., House Bay Road Beattie, W.C., House Belmont Club/John Young House Bend of the Lane Blackinton Houses and Park Bliss, Abiah, House Bliss, Daniel, Homestead Blossom, Barnabus, House Boguslavsky Triple-Deckers Borden Flats Light Station Borden, A.J., Building Borden, Ariadne J. and Mary A., House Borden, N. B., School Borden-Winslow House Border City Mill No. 2 Bourne Mill Bowen, Nathan, House Bramble Hill Brayton Homestead Brayton Methodist Episcopal Church Briggs Tavern Brightman, Hathaway, House Bristol County Courthouse Complex Bristol County Superior Court Brow's Tavern Brown House Brown, John, IV, House Brownell, Henry G., House Buffington, Deacon John, House Buildings at 80 and 88 W. Brittania St. Butler Flats Light Station Buttonwood Park Historic District Cadman-White-Handy House Canedy, Squire William B., House Capron House Capron, George, House Carney, Sgt. William H., House Carpenter Bridge Carpenter Homestead Carpenter House Carpenter, Christopher, House Carpenter, Col. Thomas, III, House Cataract Engine Company No. 3 Central Congregational Church Central Fire Station Central New Bedford Historic District Chace Mills Chace, A. B., Rowhouses Charlton Mill Chase's, Oliver, Thread Mill Chase-Hyde Farm Children's Home Church Green Church of Christ, Swansea Church of the Ascension Clarke, Pitt, House Codding Farm, The Cohannet Mill No. 3 Colby, Samuel, House Cole, Benjamin, House Collins, William, House Colony Historic District Commonwealth Avenue Historic District Connell, William M., School Coram Shipyard Historic District Corky Row Historic District Cornell Mills Cottage-Freeman Historic District Coughlin School County Street Historic District Crescent Mill Cuffe, Paul, Farm Cushing, Caleb, House and Farm Davol School Davol, William C., Jr., House Dawson Building Dean, Abiezar, House Dean, George, House Dean, Jonathan, House Dean, Lloyd, House Dean, Theodore, House Dean-Barstow House Dean-Hartshorn House Dighton Rock Dighton Wharves Historic District Dodgeville Mill Donaghy, Thomas, School Downtown Fall River Historic District Drown, Nathaniel, House Durfee Mills Durfee, B.M.C., High School Earle, John M., House East Attleborough Academy East Freetown Historic District East Taunton Fire Station Eldridge House Elm Cottage/Blanding Farm ERNESTINA (schooner) Fairbanks-Williams House Fairhaven High School and Academy Fairhaven Town Hall Fall River Bleachery Fall River Waterworks Field, Albert, Tack Company Fire Barn Fire Station No. 4 First Baptist Church First Baptist Church First Baptist Church and Society First Parsonage for Second East Parish Church Fisher-Richardson House Flint Mills Fort Phoenix Fort Taber District Foster Spinning Co. Fuller-Dauphin Estate Furnace Village Historic District Gardner, Francis L., House Gardner, Joseph, House Gardner, Preserved, House Gardner, Samuel, House Globe Yarn Mills Godfrey, Gen. George, House Godfrey, Richard, House Goff Farm Goff Homestead Greany Building Griffin Street Cemetery H.H. Richardson Historic District of North Easton Hargraves Mill No. 1 Harris Street Bridge Haskins, Sarah A., House Hathaway, James D., House Hazelwood Park Head of the River Historic District Hebronville Mill Historic District Higgins-Hodgeman House High, Church and Gould Streets Historic District Highlands Historic District Hill School Hixville Village Historic District Hodges House Holmes School Historic District Hooper House Hopewell Mills District Hopewell School Hornbine Baptist Church Hornbine School Horton, Welcome, Farm Hortonville Historic District Hotel Waverly House at 108-112 Quarry Street House at 197 Hornbine Road House at 30 Kelton Street Howland Mill Village Historic District Ingalls-Wheeler-Horton Homstead Site Ingraham, Robert C., School Jesus Marie Convent Jewish Cemetery Johnson, J. V., House Johnson, Nathan and Mary, Properties Kennedy Park Kilmer Street Fire Station King Airfield Hanger King Philip Mills Kingsley House Knapp, Job, House Knapp, Seth, Jr. House Lafayette-Durfee House Lawrence, William, House Leonard School Leonard, James, House Lightship No. 114 Lincoln, Ambrose, Jr., House Lincoln, Asa, House Lincoln, Gen. Thomas, House Lindsey, William, House Long Plain Friends Meetinghouse Long Plain School Lord-Baylies-Bennett House Lothrop Memorial Building-G.A.R. Hall Lothrop, H.B., Store Lower Highlands Historic District Luther House Luther Store Luther's Corner Luther, William, House Macomber, Calvin T., House Makepeace, D. E., Company Manley, William M., House Manomet Mills Martin Farm Martin House Martin House and Farm Marvel, Theodore L., House Mason, N. S., House Mason, William P., House Massasoit Fire House No. 5 McKinstrey House Mechanics Mill Merrill's Wharf Historic District Millicent Library Moreland Terrace Historic District Morse House Morse, Henry, House Mount Pleasant Cemetery Narragansett Mills Neck of Land Cemetery New Bedford Gas and Edison Light Complex New Bedford Historic District New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park North Attleborough Town Center Historic District North Bedford Historic District North Burial Ground North Christian Congregational Church North Easton Historic District North Easton Railroad Station North Taunton Baptist Church Northbound and Southbound Stations Norton Center Historic District Norton House Notre Dame School Oak Grove Cemetery Oak Grove Cemetery Old Bay Road Old Colony Iron Works-Nesmasket Mills Complex Old Colony Railroad Station Old Third District Courthouse Old Town Historic District Old Weir Stove Company Osborn House Osborn Street School Padanaram Village Historic District Palmer Island Light Station Paull, Alfred, House Peck-Bowen House Perry, James, House Picard, Israel, House Pierce, Capt, Mial, Farm Pilgrim Congregational Church Pilgrim Mills Pine Street School Pocasset Firehouse No. 7 PT BOAT 796 (torpedo boat) Qheguechan Club Queguechan Valley Mills Historic District Read, Nathan, House Reed and Barton Complex Rehoboth Village Historic District Rhodes, M.M. and Sons Co. Robinson, Capt. Joel, House Rotch, William J., Gothic Cottage Rotch, William Jr., House Ruggles Park Rural Cemetery and Friends Cemetery Russell Garrison Russells Mills Village Historic District Sacred Heart School Sadler, Herbert A., House Sagamore Mill No. 2 Sagamore Mills No. 1 and No. 3 Sanford Spinning Co. Santo Christo Church Sawin, Ezekiel, House School Street School Seaconnett Mills Shawmut Diner Short's Tavern Simcock House Smith, Bradford, Building Smith, John Mace, House Smuggler's House Soldiers' Memorial Library Somerset Village Historic District South Swansea Union Church South Washington Street Historic District Spring Brook Cemetery St. Anne's Church and Parish Complex St. Joseph's Church St. Joseph's Orphanage St. Louis Church St. Mary's Cathedral and Rectory St. Mary's Complex St. Patrick's Church St. Thomas Epsicopal Church Stafford Mills Staples, Sylvanus N., House Stone House Swansea Friends Meetinghouse and Cemetery Swansea Village Historic District Sweet, Albert, House Taunton Alms House Taunton Green Historic District Taunton Public Library Taunton State Hospital Thomas, H.P., House Thompson Street School Times and Olympia Buildings Tisdale-Morse House Torpedo Boat PT-617 Towne Street Historic District Truesdale Hospital Tucker Farm Historic District U.S. Customhouse U.S.S. JOSEPH P. KENNEDY JR. (DD-850) U.S.S. LIONFISH U.S.S. MASSACHUSETTS Union Baptist Church Union Congregational Church Union Mills Union Mission Chapel-Historical Hall Union Street Railway Carbarn, Repair Shop Unitarian Memorial Church Unitarian Society, The US Post Office-Attleboro Main US Post Office-Taunton Main USS LIONFISH (SS0298) National Historic Landmark USS MASSACHUSETTS (BB-59) National Historic Landmark Valentine-French House Viall, Samuel, House Vickery, Capt. David, House Vickery-Baylies House Walkden Farm Walker School Walker, Peter, House Wampanoag Mills Wamsutta Mills Washburn, Samuel, House Washington School Watson, Newell & Company Factory Weir Engine House Westport Point Historic District Westville Congregational Church Wheeler, Aaron, House Wheeler-Ingalls House White, William L., Jr., House Whitman Mills Whittenton Fire and Police Station Whittenton Mills Complex Williams, Abiathar King, House Williams, Enoch, House Williams, Francis D., House Williams, N.S., House Willis, Joseph, House Winslow Congregational Church Winslow, Luther, Jr., House Winthrop Street Baptist Church Woman's Club of Fall River Woodcock-Hatch-Maxcy House Historic District Woodward, William, House

A Tribute of Respect to Enterprising Whalemen Abijah Hathaway House Alfred Johnson and John B. Morin Anawan House Anawan House-Inn Anawan Rock Angell Park Angle Tree Stone Attleborough's Tribute Bad Luck Pond Battleship Cove 9-11 Memorial Bliss-Carpenter Saw & Shingle Mill Borderland Bourne Warehouse Cape Verde to New Bedford Captain Paul Cuffe Captain Paul Cuffe's Atlantic World Centre Street Charles O. Fiske Square Civil War’s First Black Regiment Col. Lewis L. Millett Memorial Cole-Perry Turning Mill Colonel George Claghorn Commonwealth of Toil Daniel Bullock- Samuel Baker Sawmill site 1750-1850 Dedicated as a Tribute DePillow Square Dighton Community Church Donald R. Bernard Double Bank Draper Farm Historic Site Ernestina's Many Lives Everett Southworth Horton First Burial Ground First School House Fort Phoenix Fort Phoenix Fort Phoenix Frederick Douglass From Whales to Bales From Whales to Flatfish and Scallops Garland - Muccio Square Henry C. Cousineau EOI U.S.N.R Heroes of Fort Wagner Historic Town Hall Clock Hornbine School Horton Signal In Memoriam In Memory of Anthony Perry Indian Oven Rock King Philip's Cave Korean War Memorial L.G. Balfour Company WWII Marker LaSalette Seminary Last Wooden Bridge Legend of the Turnips Leonard Iron Mine Lewis Temple Liberty Tree Lost Lightship Sailors Memorial Lowney Common Major Israel Fearing Major Thomas J. Deegan Memorial Bridge Making Room-Johnny Cake Hill Mansfield Bell of Freedom Mansfield Orthodox Congregational Church Mansfield Veterans Memorial Mansfield Veterans Memorial Mansfield World War I Monument Mansfield World War II Memorial Mason Barney School Cupola Memorial for Soldiers against Terrorism Memory of the Revolutionary Soldiers Merrill's Wharf Miles (Myles) Bridge Myles Garrison House Site Nathan and Mary (Polly) Johnson House New Bedford Historic District North Attleborough 9/11 Memorial North Attleborough Civil War Memorial North Attleborough World War I Memorial North Attleborough World War I Monument North Attleborough World War II Memorial Norton Common Burial Ground Old Powder House 1768 Old Yellow Meeting House Operations Desert Shield - Desert Storm Veterans Monument Orleans Manufacturing Co. Palmer River Pound Perryville Dam Plante-Quintairos Square Memorial POW*MIA 9-11 Memorial Preserving Whaling's Legacy Prince Henry the Navigator of Portugal Pvt. David Lewis Gifford Memorial Redway Plain Revolutionary War Cannon Revolutionary War Memorial Sabin Sawmill Samual Baker Grist & Sawmill Site Seamen’s Bethel September 11, 2001 Signs of the Time Site of First Church in Norton Site of Jonathan Barney - Mason Barney Shipyard Site of Original Oak Swamp Church Site of the First Successful Iron Works in the Old Colony Solomon Family Burial Ground South Attleboro Memorial Wall Spanish American War Memorial SPC Corey M. Shea Stony Brook Swansea Navy Veterans Memorial Swansea World War Honor Roll Swansea World War II & Korean Conflict Veterans Memorial Swansea's Vietnam Veterans Memorial Teixeira-Ruggio Square The Andrew Robeson House The Benjamin Rodman House The Dartmouth The First Attleborough Towne House The Great War Memorial The Liberatore Brothers The Mariner's Home The Mullaney Twins Memorial Parking Area The Old Bay Road The Old Shuttle Shop The Palmer's River Meeting House The Purple Heart Medal The Seamen's Bethel The Site of the First House in Norton Trial by Fire Twentieth-Century Whaling U.S. Custom House-Customary Duty USS Massachusetts Propeller Veterans Bandstand Veterans Memorial Common Veterans' Memorial Green Viking Whaleman’s Memorial Whaling Capital Whaling's Final Days White's Factory William Bradford Winneccunnett Pond Area Woodcock-Hatch-Maxcy House Working Waterfront World War II Memorial
Bristol County, Massachusetts has a rich and vibrant history dating back to the early colonial era. Originally inhabited by the Wampanoag Native American tribe, the area was first settled by Europeans in the early 17th century. In 1639, Plymouth Colony established the town of Duxbury, marking the first permanent European settlement in the county. As more settlers arrived, additional towns were established, including Taunton in 1639 and Dartmouth in 1664.

During the American Revolution, Bristol County played a significant role. In 1776, the Battle of Rhode Island, also known as the Battle of Quaker Hill, took place on the border of Bristol County and Newport, Rhode Island. This engagement was a crucial moment for American forces, as they successfully defended against a British attempt to recapture Newport.

In the 19th century, Bristol County saw rapid industrialization and economic growth. The cities of Fall River and New Bedford became major centers for textile manufacturing and the whaling industry, respectively. Fall River became famous for its cotton mills, while New Bedford became known as the world's whaling capital, with many ships departing from its harbor to hunt for whales in distant waters.

In the 20th century, Bristol County continued to evolve. The decline of the textile industry and the end of whaling led to an economic shift, and the county became more diverse in its industries. Today, Bristol County is known for its mix of suburban, urban, and rural areas, with a thriving economy that includes sectors such as healthcare, education, and technology. The county's rich history, picturesque landscapes, and vibrant communities make it an attractive destination for both residents and visitors.
Brief timeline of the history of Bristol County, Massachusetts:

  • 1685 - Bristol County is established in Massachusetts Bay Colony.
  • 1692 - Bristol County becomes part of the newly formed Province of Massachusetts Bay.
  • 1746 - County boundaries change with the creation of a new county, Bristol County, Rhode Island.
  • 1790 - Population of Bristol County reaches 24,900.
  • 1800 - New Bedford becomes the county seat.
  • 1820 - Fall River splits from Freetown and becomes a separate town.
  • 1840 - Fall River becomes a city.
  • 1877 - The City of Taunton becomes the county seat.
  • 1892 - The towns of Acushnet and Fairhaven split from New Bedford and become separate towns.
  • 1950 - Population of Bristol County reaches 317,101.
  • 1997 - Bristol County Superior Court is split into two divisions: New Bedford and Taunton.
  • 2000 - Population of Bristol County reaches 534,678.

This timeline provides a concise overview of the key events in the history of Bristol County, Massachusetts.

Audiobooks about the history of Massachusetts.