DARTMOUTH

town (township), Bristol county, southeastern Massachusetts, U.S. It lies along Buzzards Bay, adjacent to New Bedford. The site, part of a land purchase made by William Bradford and Captain Myles Standish from the Wampanoag Indian chief Massasoit, was settled by Quakers in the 1650s. It was incorporated in 1664 and named for Dartmouth, England. Nearly destroyed during the conflict between Native Americans and white settlers known as King Philip's War (167576), Dartmouth was rebuilt and prospered with the whaling and shipbuilding industries at New Bedford (then Bedford Village and part of Dartmouth until separately incorporated in 1787). Dartmouth's present economy is based on tourism and other service-related activities, as well as on light manufacturing. It is the site of the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth (1895). The township includes the resort villages of North Dartmouth and South Dartmouth, as well as the communities of Bliss Corner and Smith Mills. Demarest Lloyd State Park faces Buzzards Bay. Area 62 square miles (161 square km). Pop. (1990) 27,244; (1996 est.) 28,100. town (parish), South Hams district, administrative and historic county of Devon, England. It lies along the English Channel and the west bank of the River Dart estuary. A yachting centre, it has boatbuilding, light engineering, and pottery industries. The castle (1481) guarded the entrance to the estuary, from which Richard I's Crusaders set sail in 1190. In 1944 detachments of U.S. troops sailed from there to the Normandy beaches. The Britannia Royal Navy College is situated above the harbour. Pop. (1991) 5,676. city, Halifax county, south-central Nova Scotia, Canada. It lies on the eastern side of Halifax Harbour, opposite Halifax. The origin of the town's name is uncertain; it was named either for the town in England or for the 2nd Earl of Dartmouth. In 1784 it became the headquarters of a Quaker whaling company, and its growth was sustained by the building (182661) of the now-abandoned Shubenacadie Canal, 53 miles (85 km) long, from Halifax Harbour to the Bay of Fundy. It was incorporated as a town in 1873. Although partly destroyed in 1917 by an enormous explosion in the harbour, the town experienced an economic boom during World War I and again during and after World War II. The present city, an amalgamation of the town with seven neighbouring communities, was incorporated in 1961. Economic activities include petroleum refining, storage, and distribution, as well as shipbuilding, molasses production, iron founding, and such light industries as the manufacture of aircraft parts and electric components. The city is connected to Halifax by the 4,056-foot- (1,236-metre-) long Angus L. Macdonald and the 5,239-foot- (1,597-metre-) long A. Murray MacKay suspension bridges (opened in 1955 and 1970, respectively) and by ferry. A navy seaplane base and the Bedford Institute of Oceanography are nearby. Pop. (1991) 67,798.