New Bedford Guide Your Guide to New Bedford and South Coast, MA
On Thursday, October 30th, 2014, in front of a massive historic American Civil War-era military fort located in Fort Taber Park, New Bedford Mayor Jon Mitchell joined a coalition comprised of more than two dozen New Bedford organizations that voiced support for the adoption of the Community Preservation Act (CPA). Mayor Mitchell, Lee Blake, Chairperson of the Community Preservation Act for New Bedford and others spoke about how New Bedford would benefit from adoption of the CPA.
The CPA allows communities in Massachusetts to create a local Community Preservation Fund for open space protection, historic preservation, affordable housing and outdoor recreation. Municipalities must adopt the measure by ballot referendum, and New Bedford voters will have the opportunity to vote on the question on November 4, 2014. Text of the legislation can be found here.
Fort Taber is a 50-acre waterfront park that provides over a mile of ocean frontage located on the southern peninsula of the city which projects into Buzzards Bay. The park incorporates historical landmarks, offers many amenities and various opportunities for passive and active recreation. The centerpiece of the park is the historic Fort Taber, built between 1857 and 1871 as part of the nation’s sea coast defense system.
As a recently retired Archaeologist and Cultural Anthropologist I would like to offer my time and expertise to this very worthy project. I am originally from New Bedford and have always been fascinated with Fort Tabor and the Army Post at the same site. I remember as a child going there with my Uncle who was stationed there for a short period in the late 50’s early 60’s. He later went on to become the head of the Employment Division for the New Bedford and the region Mr. Eugene St. Jean. If you or anyone who may read this would like to reach me concerning my offer please e-mail me at proteus68@hotmail.com I look forward to hearing from you.
P.S. I now live in Bristol, RI so I am once again local .
David Lewis Costa Ph.D.
The name of the stone fort is Fort Rodman, it is not Fort Taber.