Click Here for the Digital House Guide
Use this guide to complete a self-guided tour of the house and grounds. It includes both the permanent and temporary exhibitions of the museum. As you tour the Museum, please do not touch the furnishings, displays, or wall coverings. Thank you for helping us to preserve the mansion for others to enjoy.
Celebrating 40 Years of Collecting
Curated by Sage Lamade, Manager of Collections & Interpretation
As we celebrate the RJD’s 40th anniversary in the year 2025, we look back on four decades of collecting. The house as you see it today—with historic rooms furnished to recall life during New Bedford’s “golden age” of whaling, and detailed exhibitions curated to teach visitors about those who once lived and worked here—was not always this way. It is only through the generosity of our donors that we’ve been able to acquire historic objects for study and display, and thus tell a fuller story of this unique site. On your next visit the Museum, look out for special labels marked with the Anniversary logo throughout the historic mansion and learn more about these notable donations in our 40 year history.
Newsworthy for 40 Years
In 1981, a group of determined preservationists, led by the Waterfront Historic Area League (WHALE), embarked on a mission to safeguard one of New Bedford’s iconic historic properties: the Rotch-Jones-Duff house. The WHALE board approved the property purchase from Mrs. Duff for $150,000 (in today’s dollars, $520,298). The acquisition was met with widespread community support and marked the beginning of a new chapter for the house, transforming it from a private residence to a public-serving museum. On January 4, 1985, the Rotch-Jones-Duff House & Garden Museum was incorporated, and by March of the same year, ownership of the property was officially transferred to the newly established nonprofit organization. RJD trustees, volunteers and staff wasted no time, creating an exciting calendar of events and publishing a newsletter for the fledgling museum. This exhibition features covers of each newsletter published, from the RJD’s founding, to today.
This exhibition was created with the help of volunteers Lauren Kavanagh, Mary Ellen Rogina, and Kennedy Silva.
Quakers of New Bedford
Costume, furniture and other domestic objects give the viewer a glimpse into the life style of a New Bedford Quaker.
Ties That Bind: The Jones Sisters
Curated by Sage Lamade, Manager of Collections & Interpretation
With Assistance from Catherine Adamowicz and Lauren Prescott
The 1834 Greek Revival mansion and garden estate now known as the RJD has been preserved for both its historical value and its enduring significance to present-day communities. But for three young girls born in the mid-19th century, 396 County was simply “home”. Ties That Bind explores the unique—and in some ways, unconventional—upbringings of Emma, Amelia, and Sarah Jones during the second era of residency in the site’s history. Over 100 objects from the museum’s collection are featured, including photographs, diary entries, letters, scrapbooks, illustrations, clothing, jewelry, personal items, and family heirlooms. The exhibition gives an intimate glimpse into the lives of these young women, their joyous triumphs and profound losses as experienced within the walls of the house on County Street. Discover the unwavering bond between three sisters: one which evolved over time as each chose distinct yet complementary paths.
