NEWBERN 



4141 



NEW BRITAIN 



buildings. The city also has a high school, the 

 state textile school, the old Dartmouth His- 

 torical Society and one of the finest libraries in 

 the state, containing about 150,000 volumes. 

 One of the greatest collections of books on the 

 whaling industry in the United States may be 

 found in New Bedford. 



History. The first settlement was made in 

 1652, on land purchased from Massasoit, chief 

 of the Wampanoag Indians, and his son Wam- 

 sutta, by a company from Plymouth. It was 



<1 Bedford, in honor of the family of the 

 I);:ke of Bedford, and later New Bedford. Un- 

 til 1787 it was a part of the town of Dartmouth, 

 in 1812 it was incorporated as a town, and in 

 1849 as a city. New Bedford was the store- 

 house of captured prizes during the War of 

 Independence; consequently it suffered an at- 

 tack by an English fleet under General Earl 

 in September, 1778, when seventy ships 

 were burned and the town was almost com- 

 j>l tely destroyed by fire. Quaker influence has 

 always prevailed here. 



NEW 'BERN, N. C., an important seaport 

 on the South Atlantic coast, and the county 

 seat of Craven Coupty. It is situated at the 

 h id of steamboat navigation on the Neuse 



' . an inlet of Pamlico Sound, at the point 

 where it receives the waters of the Trent River. 

 Raleigh, the state capital, is about 100 miles 

 northwest and Wilmington is eighty-seven 



- southwest. The Norfolk & Southern and 

 the Atlantic Coast Line railways provide trans- 

 portation, and steamers communicate regularly 

 with New York and other Atlantic seaports. 



: icans comprise about ninety-five per cent 



of the population, which in 1910 numbered 



9,961; in 1916 it was 10,483 (Federal estimate). 



Newbern has a large, safe harbor, the Neuse 



r being two miles wide at this point. From 



city are shipped out large quantities of 

 grain, cotton, lumber, truck-garden products 

 and naval stores. Industry is represented by 

 lumber, planing and gristmills, pickle works, 

 knitting nulls, turpentine factories, canning fac- 



s and shipyards, and there are big railroad 

 shops, in which about 2,500 people are em- 



ed. The fisheries, too, are important, 

 most notable buildings are the county 



t house, the Federal building, county jail 

 and a county home. 

 A company of Swiss and Germans under 



i ! (iranVni- 1 hm- in 1710 and 



called the plan- New Berne, fur the city of 



in Suit/, il mil. It was incorporated as 



v m 1723 and the first Provincial Congress 



met here on August 25, 1774. During the War 

 of Secession it was a strongly-fortified port of 

 the Confederacy, but it was taken by General 

 Burnside on March 14, 1862. 



NEW BRIGHTON, PA., a borough in Beaver 

 County, on Beaver River, two miles above its 

 junction with the Ohio. It is twenty-eight 

 miles northwest of Pittsburgh, with which it is 

 connected by the Pittsburgh & Lake Erie Rail- 

 way. The near-by coal fields and the river with 

 its abundant power make possible numerous 

 manufactories, and the borough is of increasing 

 importance industrially. Pottery, ^bricks, wire, 

 nails, twine, bath tubs and brass castings are 

 among the articles manufactured. The popu- 

 lation in 1910 was 8,329; in 1916 it was 9,277 

 (Federal estimate). 



NEW BRITAIN, CONN., a manufacturing 

 city of Hartford County, is in the central part 

 of the state, ten miles south and west of Hart- 

 ford. It is on the New York, New Haven & 

 Hartford Railroad and has interurban electric 

 lines. The population in 1910 was 43,916; in 



1915 the state census reported 50,612, of which 

 number forty per cent are foreign born, in- 

 cluding Russians, Swedes, Italians, (iermans, 

 Hungarians and Irish. A Federal estimate in 



1916 gave the population as 53,794. 



New Britain is known as tho "Hardware 

 City," from the importance of its chief manu- 

 factures, builders', cabinet and harness hard- 

 ware. Other important manufactures are cut- 

 lery and edge tools, hosiery and knit goods, 

 foundry and machine-shop products and 

 stamped ware. The total annual product ex- 

 ceeds a value of 122,000,000. Agriculture and 

 fruit raising are the industries of the surround- 

 ing country. 



It is the seat of a state normal school, and 

 among the more prominent buildings arc tin- 

 Federal buildints. which cost $125,000. the city 

 hall, erected at a cost of $300,000, the Swedish 

 Lutheran Church. Saint Mary's Cathedral, pub- 

 lic library (formerly the New Hnta:n Insti- 

 tute), and hospital. Walnut Hill and Smalley 

 Park are attractive playgrounds. 



New Britain was settled in 1687. It was first 

 a part of the township of Farmmnton. then a 

 part of the township of Berlin. The towiwhip 

 of New Britain was incorporated in 1850; the 

 city chartered in 1871 and the two consolidated 

 as a city in 1906. It was the birthplace of 

 Khhu Hurritt. the "l.-arne.l !>!.. and 



was one of the lir-t cm. - of the Tinted States 

 to build a subway for telegraph, telephone 

 :ic-light wires. 



