By popular demand and to celebrate the town’s bicentennial, the Fairhaven Heritage Center recently republished its popular book Fairhaven: A Lens on History by Ralph Hickok. The 150-page book, originally published in 2009, explores local, state and national history through the biographies of twenty-six people enshrined in the Fairhaven Heritage Center. The first edition of 500 copies sold out quickly. The second printing of 500 was released this month.

The book tells the stories of John Cooke’s Mayflower connections, Mark Twains many visits to Fairhaven, the remarkable saga of Manjiro Nakahama, Joshua Slocum’s one-man voyage around the world and much more. You’ll learn about Mary Ann Tripp, the first woman to sail around the world, Warren Delano II and the China trade and Fairhaven’s benefactor Henry Huttleston Rogers and his family. The book was first conceived by Milton P. George, who raised private funds for its publication

Writing about the book, Fairhaven tourism director Christopher Richard noted that as the town celebrates the bicentennial in 2012, “many residents will want to explore the town’s history more deeply. In recent years, one book has provided a more in-depth look at some of the outstanding people who have been connected with that history, Fairhaven: A Lens on History.” Richard adds, “It would be a great book to read or to give as a gift during Fairhaven’s bicentennial year.”

Fairhaven: A Lens on History costs $15. It is available for sale at the following locations in Fairhaven: Euro, 24 Center Street; the First Congregational Church, 34 Center Street; Fairhaven Town Hall, 40 Center Street; and Mike and Wayne’s Uniforms, 163 Huttleston Avenue.

Heritage Center book release

The Fairhaven Office of Tourism has just published a new eight-page brochure to help guide visitors through the town’s historic Riverside Cemetery. According to Director of Tourism Christopher J. Richard, the brochure includes a map that is keyed with the locations of nearly fifty important grave sites in the cemetery as well as brief biographical sketches of prominent citizens who were buried there. The brochure is now available at the Visitors Center, 43 Center St., Fairhaven.

“For years, when Japanese visitors ask where Capt. Whitfield’s grave is or if people ask about the Delano or Rogers mausoleums, I’ve had to grab a pen and a piece of scrap paper and draw them a map,” Richard said. “Now they can pick up a brochure and learn a lot more.” Richard noted that the Riverside Cemetery Tour, which he guides twice a year, is one of the most popular walks offered by the Office of Tourism. The brochure can serve as a guide to those who cannot attend a guided tour.

The brochure offers a short history of the lovely rural style cemetery created in 1850 by Warren Delano II, the grandfather of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Some of the highlighted burial sites include those of town benefactor Henry H. Rogers, Revolutionary War hero Nathaniel Pope, businessman William F. Nye, artist William Bradford, members of the D.N. Kelley family and people from more recent history such as selectman Walter Silveira, educator Elizabeth I. Hastings, Donald R. Bernard and Dr. Martha Cummings.

Richard created all of the text, photographs and the map for the brochure. Half of the cost of the printing was covered by a donation from Riverside Cemetery, where copies of the brochure will also be available.

The Fairhaven Visitors Center is open Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and Saturday 8:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. For more information call 508-979-4085 or email FairhavenTours@aol.com.