Fairhaven

Fairhaven is a town in Bristol County, Massachusetts, in the United States. It is located on the south coast of Massachusetts where the Acushnet River flows into Buzzards Bay, an arm of the Atlantic Ocean. The town shares a harbor with the city of New Bedford, a place well-known for its whaling and fishing heritage; consequently, Fairhaven's history, economy, and culture are closely-aligned with those of its larger neighbor. The population of Fai... more

Fairhaven is a town in Bristol County, Massachusetts, in the United States. It is located on the south coast of Massachusetts where the Acushnet River flows into Buzzards Bay, an arm of the Atlantic Ocean. The town shares a harbor with the city of New Bedford, a place well-known for its whaling and fishing heritage; consequently, Fairhaven's history, economy, and culture are closely-aligned with those of its larger neighbor. The population of Fairhaven was 16,159 at the time of the 2000 census. Among Fairhaven's natives was Henry Huttleston Rogers (1840-1909), who was a United States capitalist, businessman, and philanthropist. Rogers was one of the key men in John D. Rockefeller’s Standard Oil trust. He later developed the Virginian Railway. Rogers and his wife, Abbie Gifford Rogers, another Fairhaven native (who was the daughter of the whaling captain, Peleg Gifford), donated many community improvements in the late-nineteenth- and early-twentieth-century, including a grammar school,... less