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Announcements
We're excited to announce a new virtual tour of Fort Rodman-Fort Taber Park! Check out our virtual tour to see a stunning drone view of the fort's interior and a ground-level perspective of the stone fort. We hope you enjoy it!
A big thank you to Peter Hanney of Hanney Property Solutions for his fantastic camera work, drone footage, and editing that made this tour possible.
LATEST NEWS & EVENTS
SEE WHAT'S HAPPENING AT FORT RODMAN
Storm Closure January 25, 2026
A MESSAGE FROM OUR ASSOCIATION PRESIDENT With the Snow expected tomorrow. The Museum will be CLOSED Sunday January 25, 2026. Please Stay Safe and Warm Bill Niedzwiedz Fort Rodman ~ Fort Taber Historical Association
Museum Speaker Series 2026 “Keeping History Alive!!”
Due to Storm that is supposed to arrive on Sunday the Fort Taber~Fort Rodman Military Museum is rescheduling the Speaker to February 8th, 2026, Same time same place. MUSEUM SPEAKER SERIES—KEEPING HISTORY ALIVE ! WHEN: TIME: SUNDAY JANUARY 25, 2026 2:00 P.M. WHERE: Fort Taber~Fort Rodman Military Museum & Veterans Memorial 1000C S.…
January 2026 Lights of Peace Flag to Honor The Memory of Ensign Joseph Irving Segall KIA During WWII
During the month of January, the 76th Lights for Peace flag to fly at the Fort Taber – Fort Rodman Military Museum honors the memory of Ensign Joseph Irving Segall of New Bedford, the first Jewish-American youth killed in World War II. Segall was born in New Bedford on July 19, 1917, the son of…
A Message from Our Associations President
“The Museum has decided to Close the Museum on both Christmas Eve Dec 24 and Christmas Day Dec 25, and New Year’s Eve Dec 31 and New Year’s Day Jan. 1, 2026, so that are Volunteers can spend time with their Families. We wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.”
Lights of Peace Flag December 2025 to Honor SSGT William D. Watling, Sr. WWII Army Air Corp Veteran
During the month of December, the 75th Lights for Peace flag to fly at the Fort Taber – Fort Rodman Military Museum honors the memory of SSGT William David Watling, Sr., of Rochester, a WWII Army Air Corp veteran who served in the 448 Bombardment Group of the 2nd Air Division. Watling was born in…
Thanksgiving Museum Notice
The Museum will be closed Thanksgiving Day November 27, 2025, so that our Volunteers can spend time with their Families. From all of us at the Museum to all of our patrons have a HAPPY THANKSGIVING!
November 2025 Lights of Peace Flag to Honor The Memory of S1C Alfred D. Rosa WWII Navy Veteran
During the month of November, the 74th Lights for Peace flag to fly at the Fort Taber – Fort Rodman Military Museum honors the memory of Seaman First Class Alfred D. Rosa, of New Bedford, a U.S. Navy veteran who served as a diver aboard the USS Mainstay, a mine sweeper during WWII. Alfred Delgado…
Our next speaker on Sunday November 23, 2025
Dr. Paul Robinson Addresses the 80th Anniversary of Hiroshima/Nagasaki Professor of History Bridgewater State University It was 80 years ago , World War II, August 1945 the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, and three days later on Nagasaki. Six days later Japan surrendered. The destruction was on a scale the world had never seen.…
Armistice and Veterans Day
The museum will be open Armistice/Veterans Day Tuesday Nov 11, 2025, from 10 am to 4 pm with the Bells for Peace being wrung at 11 am Coffee and refreshments will be available
Lights of Peace October 2025 Honoree CPL Dennis Marote WWII Veteran
During the month of October, the 73rd Lights for Peace flag to fly at the Fort Taber – Fort Rodman Military Museum honors the memory of CPL Dennis O. Marote of New Bedford who served in the United States Army Air Corps, the U.S. Air Force and the Army National Guard. Marote was born in…
HISTORY OF THE FORT
1800 - New Bedford became the world’s foremost whaling port by the middle of the nineteenth-century. The port’s upriver location provided natural protection from coastal gales, but not the storms of national and international controversy. A British raid during the American Revolution demonstrated the vulnerability of the port in 1778 when seventy vessels and twenty-six storehouses were left in ruin. The need for coastal defense was obvious again during the War of 1812... see timeline
MUSEUM HISTORY
The Fort Taber Fort Rodman military Museum opened in August 2004. Our collection consisted of twenty photographs, two shelf units and a display case. Since then it has grown in every way with new exhibited items, more volunteers, physical size with the construction of a new addition, and most importantly visitors. Our average annual visitor rate is over 8,500 people, resulting in the museum being hailed as the “biggest little military museum in the... read more