Local city information for Portsmouth, NH

Portsmouth is a city in Rockingham County, New Hampshire in the United States. It is the fourth-largest community in the county, with a population of 20,784 at the 2000 census. A historic seaport and popular summer tourist destination, Portsmouth is served by Pease International Tradeport, formerly the Strategic Air Command's Pease Air Force Base converted into a civilian airport and office park.


The first known European to explore and write about the area was Martin Pring in 1603. The village was settled in 1630 as Piscataqua, then given the name Strawbery Banke because of wild strawberries growing beside the Piscataqua River, a tidal estuary with a swift current. Strategically located for trade between upstream industries and mercantile interests abroad, the port prospered. Fishing, lumber and shipbuilding were principal businesses of the region.

At the town's incorporation in 1653, it was named Portsmouth in honor of the colony's founder, John Mason. He had been captain of the port of Portsmouth, England, in the county of Hampshire, for which New Hampshire is named. In 1679, Portsmouth became the colonial capital. It also became a refuge for exiles from Puritan Massachusetts. When Queen Anne's War ended, the town was selected by Governor Joseph Dudley to host the 1713 Treaty of Portsmouth, which temporarily ended hostilities between Abenaki Indians and English settlements of the Province of Massachusetts Bay and New Hampshire.

During the Revolution, in 1774, Paul Revere rode to Portsmouth warning that the British were coming. Although the harbor was protected by Fort William and Mary, the rebel government moved the capital inland to Exeter, safe from the Royal Navy which bombarded Falmouth (now Portland, Maine) on October 18, 1775. Thomas Jefferson's 1807 embargo withered trade, and a number of local fortunes were lost. Others were gained by privateering during the War of 1812. In 1849, Portsmouth was incorporated as a city.

Once one of the nation's busiest ports and shipbuilding cities, Portsmouth's wealth was expressed in fine architecture. It contains significant examples of Colonial, Georgian, and Federal style houses, a selection of which are now museums. Portsmouth's heart contains stately brick Federalist stores and townhouses, built all-of-a-piece after devastating early 19th century fires. The worst was in 1813 when 244 buildings burned. A fire district was created which required that all new buildings within the district be brick with slate roofs, giving downtown its distinctive appearance. The city is also noted for producing boldly veneered Federalist furniture, particularly by master cabinet maker Langley Boardman.

The Industrial Revolution left Portsmouth in the shadow of New Hampshire mill towns like Dover, Keene, Laconia, Manchester, Nashua and Rochester. The effect of this economic shift was to preserve old Portsmouth throughout its Victorian doldrums, a time described in the works of native son Thomas Bailey Aldrich. Now, with the protection of a Historic District Commission, much of the city's architectural legacy survives—to the delight of tourists and artists, who each summer throng the cafes, restaurants and shops around Market Square. In 2008, Portsmouth was named one of the "Dozen Distinctive Destinations" by the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

Portsmouth shipbuilding history has a long symbiotic relationship with Kittery, Maine, across the Piscataqua River. While John Paul Jones boarded at the Portsmouth museum house which now bears his name, his ship Ranger was built on nearby Badger's Island in Kittery. The Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, established in 1800 as the first federal navy yard, is located on Seavey's Island in Kittery.
President Theodore Roosevelt arranged for the base to host negotiations leading to the 1905 Treaty of Portsmouth, ending the Russo-Japanese War.


Image:Jackson House, Portsmouth, NH.jpg|Jackson House (1664) as it appeared in 1909
Image:The Warner House, Portsmouth, NH.jpg|Warner House (1716) in 1902
Image:Wentworth-Coolidge Mansion, Portsmouth, NH.jpg|Wentworth-Coolidge Mansion (1750) in 1902
Image:The Moffatt-Ladd House, Portsmouth, NH.jpg|Moffatt-Ladd House (1763) in 1905


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