Old Dartmouth

Old Dartmouth
Settlement
Purchase deed from November 29, 1652, for Old Dartmouth.[1]
Purchase deed from November 29, 1652, for Old Dartmouth.[1]
First colonized1602
Purchased and Settled Officially1652
Incorporated1664
Area
 • Total470 km2 (180 sq mi)

Old Dartmouth was the first area of Southeastern Massachusetts settled by Europeans. It was purchased on behalf of the Plymouth Colony in 1652 from the indigenous Wampanoag people. The lands included all of modern-day Dartmouth, New Bedford, Westport, Fairhaven, and Acushnet in current day Massachusetts, as well as parts of modern Tiverton and Little Compton In Rhode Island, an area of around 145,000 individuals in the modern area.[2][3][4]

  1. ^ "A Deed Appointed to be Recorded. | Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History". www.gilderlehrman.org. Retrieved August 22, 2021.
  2. ^ "Colonial Period (1675–1775)". Westport Historical Society. Retrieved October 22, 2022.
  3. ^ "Evolution of Old Dartmouth – New Bedford Whaling Museum". www.whalingmuseum.org. March 12, 2021. Retrieved October 22, 2022.
  4. ^ "The Old Dartmouth Historical Society - New Bedford Whaling Museum". www.whalingmuseum.org. Retrieved November 15, 2022.