New Bedford Glass Museum Offers an Array of Holiday Gift Ideas

Since relocating to the James Arnold Mansion in historic downtown New Bedford five years ago, the New Bedford Museum of Glass has settled in and is a nice addition to its surroundings.

The Arnold Mansion, most recently known as the Wamsutta Club, is owned and maintained by a nonprofit preservation organization.

The museum's website says the arrangement offers many advantages, such as "Magnificent Victorian architecture, landscaped grounds, and plentiful on-site parking – all at one of the city's most prominent addresses."

The Wamsutta Club and the New Bedford Museum of Glass are at 427 County Street at the corner of Union Street.

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The museum says, "Our neighbors are several of New Bedford's best-known cultural attractions, including the First Unitarian Church, with its monumental 200 square-foot Tiffany Glass mosaic, and the elegant Rotch-Jones-Duff House and Garden Museum."

NBMOG says, "During the Victorian era, New Bedford was renowned as the 'Art Glass Headquarters of the Country,' known for locally developed lines such as Rose Amber glass, Crown Milano, Royal Flemish, Burmese, and Lava glass, examples of which are "represented in the museum's 7,000 piece collection."

The James Arnold Mansion served as the home of William H. Rotch in the 1870s and 1880s. NBMOG says, "Rotch was a president of New Bedford's famous Mt. Washington Glass Company and a founding officer of the Pairpoint Mfg. Company."

A massive wind-swept fire destroyed the abandoned Pairpoint Mill Building on Prospect Street in October 1965.

The New Bedford Museum of Glass has a gift shop with special and unique holiday gift ideas, including Pattern Glass, Pairpoint Mt. Washington, Glass Animals, European and Scandinavian glass, jewelry, books and more.

The New Bedford Museum of Glass spent 10 years at the Wamsutta Mills before relocating to the James Arnold Mansion in 2019.