Wikipedia:Peer review/New Bedford Historic District/archive1

New Bedford Historic District

• A script has been used to generate a semi-automated review of the article for issues relating to grammar and house style; it can be found on the automated peer review page for January 2009.

This peer review discussion has been closed.
I've listed this article for peer review because I when I finished expanding it a few months ago, it was pretty much the article I had expected it to be. While as it is I don't see this as an FA, I definitely think it's got GA capabilities. I'd like to know what my fellow editors think.

Thanks, Daniel Case (talk) 16:51, 6 January 2009 (UTC)

Comments by doncram

• Nice article, reflecting Daniel Case's fine style in other historic district articles. It's high time some of those should get promoted!
• Great photos, particularly the lead one and the US Customshouse one, both Daniel Case-taken pics. The next to last one appears kinda fuzzy to me, not sure why.
• Map showing district boundaries is good, but i think it should be zoomed out to show the district's location relative to the waterfront. I take it the waterfront is across the freeway which i see, but does the map show the waterfront at the right or another street. There is no blue water showing up anywhere.
• Layout, table of contents work great for me, looking now in Firefox with zoom / larger size fonts for the moment.
• I have a number of copyedit suggestions and/or detail comments, many focusing merely on confusion about what "it" is referring to. Suggestions/comments:
  • During the 19th century, when the city was the center of the American whaling industry, this was its downtown. Awkward phrasing, reword. Actually, i see that i misread the sentence as saying "this was its downturn." Not sure if the context could have influenced me to misunderstand in a way similar to how any others might. Probably it was just me, but I leave my statement of confused experience reading the sentence for you to consider.
  • Many of them reflect the legacy of whaling in the city's development. It was designated a National Historic Landmark (NHL) and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1966. For clarity in larger context, change this "It" to "The district".
  • One building within it, the U.S. Customhouse, is the oldest such facility currently in use and has been itself recognized as an NHL. Since 1996 it has also been a part of New Bedford Whaling National Historic Park. Do you mean the Customhouse has been part of the NB WNHP, or that the historic district has been part of the NB WNHP? Replace "it" by "Customhouse" or "district" or "historic district"
  • The district is bounded by Front Street on the east, Elm Street on the north, Acushnet Avenue and the Central New Bedford Historic District on the west, and Commercial Street on the south, an area that takes in 11 city blocks and part of a twelfth. Run-on. End sentence with south, then second sentence like "The area takes in ...".
  • On these 19.6 acres (7.9 ha) are 20 buildings, with some modern intrusions, mainly parking lots.... Are the 20 buildings all historic buildings, or are some of those 20 modern intrusion buildings? Say 20 historic buildings or otherwise clarify. Should the comma after intrusions be a colon followed by a list of the intrusions, instead?
  • Just east of the district is the John F. Kennedy Expressway (MA 18), a limited-access highway which has become a barrier between it and the neighboring waterfront, still in use. Replace "it" by "the district".
  • New Bedford became a whaling port shortly after its settlement when Joseph Rotch moved to the area in 1765. Running on, and/or out of order. Perhaps (if this is factually accurate): "New Bedford was identified as a potential whaling port by its first settler, John Rotch, who moved to the area in 1765."
  • In 1778, the British Army burned the city in retaliation for the acts of local privateers. Could you say, before, what the local privateers did? Perhaps you do not have that info, but it would be nice to provide if you do.
  • Two decades later, the War of 1812 again took a toll on the industry, but it recovered again and by 1823 New Bedford's fleet equalled Nantucket's in tonnage. Four years later it had surpassed the island's in barrels. Replace "it recovered" by the "industry recovered"; replace "it had surpassed" by "New Bedford's had surpassed". (Note "it had surpassed" is incorrect, you meant "its fleet had surpassed".)
  • As the city prospered in the following years, the buildings that currently make up the historic district were built. The buildings were built seems not the most exciting way to lay it out.
  • William, now a wealthy man,... Replace "now" by "then"
  • The Seamen's Bethel, built in 1832, became the traditional spot for sailors' services before departing for the deep oceans. Mysterious, what services are offered in this Bethel? I think this is wrong, but I don't know what a bethel is, and bethel sounds like a brothel, where sailors might want services before departing for long voyages. Maybe explain what a bethel is, either if it is a general term or if it is a local one-only term, especially as the term is used later in the article, too.
  • In 1851 Herman Melville, who had lived in New Bedford a decade earlier, published his classic novel Moby-Dick, which began in New Bedford and mentioned locations like the Bethel and the houses. Interesting. Can you work in a quote or two from the book, rather than just say the book mentions New Bedford? Melville refers to ___ as "____ ___", etc.
  • The industry peaked in 1857, when New Bedford accounted for half the U.S. whaling fleet. What industry? Would be clearer as: "The whaling industry peaked in 1857, when New Bedford accounted for half the U.S. fleet" (or half the U.S. whaling fleet?)
  • ...and the last whaling voyage took place in 1925. Clarify, this was certainly not the last whaling voyage in the world. The last whaling voyage departing from New Bedford? in a ship owned by NB interests?
  • In 1966 the waterfront area was among the earliest National Historic Landmarks designated. Append "in the United States."
  • Two have been added to the National Register in their own right, and one of those is a National Historic Landmark. Suggest changing the second phrase to active voice as well, perhaps: "and one of those has further been designated a National Historic Landmark."

I hope these comments are helpful! Good luck. doncram (talk) 10:02, 12 January 2009 (UTC)