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The Town of Dartmouth
Massachusetts is unusual in exemplifying from its earliest history the
tension between the established Calvinist Puritan religion and those who
wished to worship in their own way. In 1652, Massasoit, Chief Sachem of
the Wampanoag Federation, sold the land covering Dartmouth and 4 other
present towns, to elders of the Plymouth Colony, including Miles Standish,
John Alden, and Governor William Bradford.
These early real estate speculators
then sold the land off in smaller parcels, primarily to religious dissidents,
Quakers and Baptists, who were seeking refuge on what was then the frontier
from the religious persecutions being launched both by the Massachusetts
Bay and Plymouth Bay Colonies. The town, named after an English port, was
incorporated in 1664 but refused consistently to pay the "minister's tax"
which was levied on all communities to support Puritan clergy. The community
grew quickly, attracting many who disagreed with the establishment and
many more who sought work in agriculture, saltmaking or fishing, including
a significant number of Portuguese immigrants.
Dartmouth has remained through most
of its history a rural agricultural community but began adopting a summer
residential and resort character in the 19th century as wealthy and near-wealthy
city dwellers from New Bedford built and purchased vacation homes. Although
Dartmouth is now primarily a suburban bedroom community, the town came
into the 20th century with significant portions of its historic character
intact; there is still farming in Dartmouth, still a strong vacation component
and still a wide diversity in religious beliefs. The construction of Southern
Massachusetts University in the 1960's accelerated the town's growth in
residential development.
Areas of Dartmouth are rich in colonial,
Federal and Greek revival architecture and some rural areas are left, although
under pressure from housing development. Residents are proud of the fact
that in Dartmouth the past and present co-exist: the past in its farms,
churches, villages and scenic rural roads and the present in Route 6 commercial
development, the North Dartmouth Mall and emerging industrial policies.
Dartmouth Massachusetts is located
in Southeastern Massachusetts, bordered by Westport on the west, Fall River
on the north, and New Bedford and Buzzards Bay on the east and south. From
the intersection of Route #6 and #177 in the Westport Mills section, Dartmouth
is 6 miles west of New Bedford, 6 miles south of Fall River, 53 miles south
of Boston. |
