It is located on the South Coast of Massachusetts where the Acushnet River flows into Buzzards Bay, an arm of the Atlantic Ocean.

The town shares a harbor with the city of New Bedford, a place well known for its whaling and fishing heritage; consequently, Fairhaven's history, economy, and culture are closely aligned with those of its larger neighbor.

It was founded on land purchased by English settlers at the Plymouth Colony from the Wampanoag sachem Massasoit, and his son, Wamsutta.

The northern portion of Fairhaven, upriver from Buzzards Bay, formed another independent town, called Acushnet, in 1860.

Under the command of Nathaniel Pope and Daniel Egery, a group of 25 Fairhaven minutemen (including Noah Stoddard) aboard the sloop Success retrieved two vessels previously captured by a British warship in Buzzards Bay.

An attack on Fairhaven village itself was repelled by militia under the command of Major Israel Fearing, who had marched from Wareham, some 15 miles (24 km) away, with additional militiamen.

In the early morning hours of June 13, 1814, landing boats were launched from the British raider, HMS Nimrod.

Prior to the second half of the nineteenth century, whale oil was the primary source of fuel for lighting in the United States.

It also became a popular location for ship-owners and ship-captains to build their homes and raise their children.Among Fairhaven's natives was Henry Huttleston Rogers (1840–1909), a businessman and philanthropist.

Rogers and his wife, Abbie Gifford Rogers, another Fairhaven native (who was the daughter of the whaling captain Peleg Gifford), donated many community improvements in the late-nineteenth- and early-twentieth-century, including a grammar school, an extraordinarily luxurious high school, the Town Hall, the George H. Taber Masonic Building, the Unitarian Memorial Church, the Tabitha Inn, the Millicent Library, and a modern water-and-sewer system.

These structures were erected to top-quality construction standards, a trademark philosophy of Henry H. Rogers; some are still in regular use more than one hundred years later.

In 1885, Rogers built a huge and modern (for the times) elementary school and, in 1893, a memorial to his beloved daughter, Millicent, in the form of an Italian-Renaissance palazzo that serves as the town's free public library to this day.

Among his friends were Booker T. Washington, Anne Sullivan, Helen Keller, and Mark Twain, all of whom came to visit Rogers in Fairhaven, sometimes for protracted periods.

It is bordered by the river and New Bedford to the west, Acushnet to the north, Mattapoisett to the east and Buzzards Bay to the south.

The town lies along coastal plain, and has some swampland along the Nasketucket and around Boy's and Girl's Creeks, north of Priest's Cove.

Cushman Park, as well as having tennis courts and ballfields and a bandstand, is the location of Fairhaven High School's running track.

Interstate 195 travels on an east–west path through town, crossing the Acushnet River at the point where it begins to broaden as it approaches New Bedford Harbor.

SRTA provides bus service between Fairhaven and New Bedford, as well as two short shuttle routes between the town and Acushnet and Mattapoisett.

Fairhaven is the home of the Acushnet Company, a world-renowned manufacturer of golf equipment under the brand name Titleist (now owned by Fila).

On the national level, Fairhaven is a part of Massachusetts's 9th congressional district, and is currently represented by William R. Keating.

The Fairhaven police department is located on Byrant Lane, a half-mile east of the center of town.

Fairhaven High School, donated by Rogers in 1906, is the most recognizable landmark in the town, given its prominent location on Route 6 (Huttleston Avenue) and its impressive appearance.

The Northeast Maritime Institute based in Fairhaven offers a two-year program in Nautical Science and prepares students to work as deck officers or captains aboard ships.