1876 Bailey Bird's Eye View of New Bedford, Massachusetts

This is the 1876 first state of Oakley Hoopes Bailey chromolithograph bird's-eye view of New Bedford, Massachusetts. The view captures New Bedford as it transitioned from a wealthy whaling town to a wealthy mill town.

Historical Context

When New Bedford officially became a city in 1847, it was one of New England's most productive whaling cities, challenging Nantucket and Providence. Whaling dominated the city's economy for most of the century, and that trade fueled the city's initial population boom until around 1860. In 1857, New Bedford was the richest city per capita in the world - but the discovery of petroleum in Pennsylvania led to an inexorable decline in the market for whale oil, and the predations of secessionist commerce raiders during the American Civil War (1861 - 1865) accelerated the decline of an already-fading industry. By the time this view was produced, in 1876, New Bedford was not so much a whaling town as it was a mill town: the textile industry had taken over. In 1875, the Wamsutta Mills on their own processed enough cotton to make more money than that year's entire whaling catch. The textile mills fueled even greater prosperity than whaling, spurring the development of industries to serve the city's rich.

A Closer Look

The view identifies 76 public buildings, manufactories, general businesses, and newspapers. Amongst its public buildings are twenty six churches, indicative of prosperity. Among the city's 'Manufactories' are the mammoth Wamsutta, Potomska, and Gosnold Textile Mills, dominating the waterfront. Gas works, copper mills, and cordage works can be seen, but many of the factories are tool and machine works, necessary support for the mills. Soap, spice, shoe, and carriage works figure prominently, serving the needs of the mill owners and others. Six vignettes under the view include a patent bakery, a soap manufactory, a shipping agent, a boot and shoe company, the J and W.R. Wing and Co. clothing house, and Wamsutta.

Bailey's New England Phase

By the time this view was drawn, Bailey had resettled from Ohio to Cambridge, Massachusetts, and so this piece is among his later work that focused on towns near his new home. The lithograph was nevertheless executed by the firm of C. H. Vogt in Milwaukee, with whom Bailey had a relationship, and with whom he would continue to work until 1878. Concurrently, Bailey also had his view printed by the Milwaukee firm of Jacob Knauber, a relationship which ended in 1878 or 79. After that point, Bailey's work was either printed in-house, or by the Boston firm of J. C. Hazen.

American Bird's-Eye City Views

The tradition of the bird's-eye city view emerged in the United States in the middle part of the 19th century and coincided with the commercial development of lithographic printing. Before the rise of lithography, the ability to own and display artwork in the home was largely limited to the extremely wealthy, the advent of lithographic printing made it possible for everyone to own visually striking artwork. A robust trade developed in portraits of political leaders, allegorical and religious images, and city views.

City views were being produced in the United States as early as the 1830s, but the genre exploded after the American Civil War (1861 - 1865). Bridging the gap between maps and pictures, most 19th century American bird's-eye views presented cities to the public from high vantage points. Some were imagined, but others were drawn from hot-air balloons or nearby hills. The presentation, combining high elevation, commercial interest, and new printing technology, created a uniquely American art form, as described by historian Donald Karshan,

Some print connoisseurs believe that it was only with the advent of the full-blown city-view lithograph that American printmaking reached its first plateau of originality, making a historical contribution to the graphic arts. They cite the differences between the European city-view prints and the expansive American version that reflects a new land and a new attitude toward the land.

The vogue for bird's-eye city views lasted from about 1845 to 1920, during which period some 2,400 cities were thus portrayed, some multiple times. Although views were produced in many urban centers, the nexus of view production in the United States was Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The major American viewmakers were Stoner, Wellge, Bailey, Fowler, Hill, Ruger, Koch, Burleigh, Norris, and Morse, among others.

Chromolithography

Chromolithography, sometimes called oleography, is a color lithographic technique developed in the mid-19th century. The process involved using multiple lithographic stones, one for each color, to yield a rich composite effect. Oftentimes, the process would start with a black basecoat upon which subsequent colors were layered. Some chromolithographs used 30 or more separate lithographic stones to achieve the desired product. Chromolithograph color could also be effectively blended for even more dramatic results. The process became extremely popular in the late 19th and early 20th centuries when it emerged as the dominant method of color printing. The vivid color chromolithography produced made it exceptionally effective for advertising and propaganda imagery.

Publication History and Census

This view is rare, with only five examples cataloged in OCLC. This first state appears in the collections of the American Antiquarian Society Library, Boston Public Library, Harvard University, and the State University of Massachusetts. A second state, with the additional text 'Presented by J. and W. R. Wing and Co., 111 Union Street,' is in the Library of Congress.