One of artist William A. Wall's most famous paintings, the New Bedford born painter made this original painting (once owned by Miss Amelia Jones) in the 1850s, and it was produced as a two-stone lithograph by Endicott & Co. of New York and published by Charles Talbert & Co. of Boston in 1858. The scene is a charming one of New Bedford as it appeared in approximately 1808, with the signs of several well known businesses and people of all ages about their respective business and play, with some local fauna and the horse-drawn carriages.

Wall himself was born in New Bedford in 1807, and made his fame as a portrayer of the townspeople and local settlements of "Old Dartmouth". He studied in both New York and Philadelphia after leaving the watch making profession. His "Birth of the Whaling Industry" masterpiece is in the New Bedford Library collection.