Blood, Trauma, and Biohazard Cleanup in New Bedford, MA

New Bedford is a city in Bristol County, settled in 1652 when land was bought from the Wampanoag as part of the Old Dartmouth purchase, incorporated as a town on February 23, 1787, and incorporated as a city in 1847.

The 2020 census recorded a population of 101,079 in New Bedford, with 39,208 households and 42,781 housing units, making it the ninth-largest city in Massachusetts.

The city covers 24.13 square miles in total, including 20.00 square miles of land, and is served by ZIP codes 02740 and 02744 through 02746.

New Bedford is nicknamed "The Whaling City" and its motto is Lucem Diffundo.

In the first half of the 19th century New Bedford was one of the world's most important whaling ports, and at its height it became one of the richest cities per capita in the world through its control of whale oil and related products.

Herman Melville worked in New Bedford as a whaler and set his 1851 novel Moby-Dick in the city, including a scene at the Seaman's Bethel, which still stands.

The Port of New Bedford was the most valuable commercial fishing port in the United States from 1999 to 2019, and in 2019 its catch was worth $451 million, with scallops accounting for 84 percent of the port's annual fishing revenue.

The Revenue Cutter School of Instruction, the predecessor of the United States Coast Guard Academy, had its home port in New Bedford from 1876 to 1900.

The New Bedford Whaling Museum is the centerpiece of the New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park and is the country's largest museum on the subject of whaling and the history of interaction between humans and whales.

New Bedford later grew wealthy on textiles, and at the industry's height more than 30,000 people were employed by 32 cotton-manufacturing companies in the city, with the New Bedford Textile School opening in 1895 to 1899.