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Portsmouth, New Hampshire Hotels, Inns, Vacations, Historical Tours and Luxury Travel Packages

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, a former military base converted into a civilian airport and office park.

Portsmouth Sites of interest

• Strawbery Banke - a neighborhood featuring several dozen restored historic homes in Colonial, Georgian and Federal styles of architecture. The site of one of Portsmouth's earliest settlements.
• The Music Hall (Portsmouth) - a 900-seat theater originally opened in 1878. After several closings, the theater is now run by a non-profit organization and currently under restoration. The venue hosts musical acts, theater, dance and cinema.
• USS Albacore Museum & Park - a museum featuring the USS Albacore, a U.S. Navy submarine used for testing that was decommissioned in 1972 and moved to the park in 1985. The submarine is open for tours.
• Portsmouth Harbor Lighthouse - First established in 1771, the current structure was built in 1878 and is open for monthly tours from May through September.

Portsmouth History
 
Market Square in 1853The first known European to explore and write about the area was Martin Pring in 1603. It would be settled in 1630 as Piscataqua, then given the name Strawbery Banke because of abundant wild strawberries growing beside the Piscataqua River, a tidal estuary with a swift current. Strategically located for trade between various upstream industries (particularly logging) and mercantile interests abroad, the port prospered. Fishing, lumber and shipbuilding were principal businesses.

At the town's incorporation in 1653, the name Portsmouth was adopted 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 ended hostilities between Eastern 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, particularly after Falmouth (now Portland, Maine) was bombarded by the Royal Navy on October 18, 1775. During President Thomas Jefferson's 1807 embargo, which withered trade, a number of local fortunes were lost. Others were gained by privateering during the War of 1812. In 1849, Portsmouth incorporated as a city.
 
Market Square c. 1908Once 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 being in 1813 when 244 buildings burned. A fire district was subsequently created which required that all new buildings within the district be constructed of brick with slate roofs. The city is also noted for producing boldly veneered Federalist furniture, particularly that by master cabinet maker Langley Boardman.

The Industrial Revolution, however, would leave 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 around Market Square.

Portsmouth shipbuilding history has a long symbiotic relationship with Kittery, Maine, across the Piscataqua River. Although John Paul Jones boarded at the Portsmouth house which now bears his name, his ship Ranger was built on 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.

Portsmouth was named one of the 2008 Dozen Distinctive Destinations by The National Trust for Historic Preservation.

www.wikipedia.org

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