Portsmouth, New Hampshire
—  City  —
Market Square
Official seal of Portsmouth, New Hampshire Seal
Location in Rockingham County, New Hampshire
Coordinates: 43°4′32.6″N 70°45′38.7″W / 43.075722°N 70.76075°W / 43.075722; -70.76075
Country	United States
State	New Hampshire
County	Rockingham
Incorporated	1653
Incorporated (city)	1849
Government
• Mayor	Eric Spear
• City manager	John P. Bohenko
Area
• Total	16.8 sq mi (43.5 km2)
• Land	15.6 sq mi (40.4 km2)
• Water	1.2 sq mi (3.1 km2)  7.03%
Elevation	20 ft (6 m)
Population (2010)
• Total	21,233
• Density	1,300/sq mi (490/km2)
Time zone	Eastern (UTC-5)
• Summer (DST)	Eastern (UTC-4)
ZIP codes	03801–03804
Area code(s)	603
FIPS code	33-62900
GNIS feature ID	0869312
Website	www.cityofportsmouth.com

Portsmouth is a city in Rockingham County, New Hampshire in the United States. It is the largest city but only the fourth-largest community in the county,^[1] with a population of 21,233 at the 2010 census.^[2][3] A historic seaport and popular summer tourist destination, Portsmouth is served by Portsmouth International Airport at Pease, formerly the Strategic Air Command's Pease Air Force Base.

History[link]

Market Square in 1853

Native Americans of the Abenaki and other Algonquian-speaking nations inhabited the territory of coastal New Hampshire for thousands of years before European contact.

The first known European to explore and write about the area was Martin Pring in 1603. The village was settled by English immigrants in 1630 and named Piscataqua, after the Abenaki name for the river. Then the village was called Strawberry Banke, after the many 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.^[4] Enslaved Africans were imported as early as 1645 and were an integral part of building the city's prosperity.^[5] Portsmouth was part of the Triangle Trade that made significant profits from slavery.

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.^{[citation needed]}

When Queen Anne's War ended, the town was selected by Governor Joseph Dudley to host negotiations for the 1713 Treaty of Portsmouth, which temporarily ended hostilities between the Abenaki Indians and English settlements of the Province of Massachusetts Bay and New Hampshire.^[4]

Portsmouth Harbor, New Hampshire, William James Glackens, 1909

In the lead-up to the Revolution, in 1774 Paul Revere rode to Portsmouth warning that the British were coming.^[6] Although the harbor was protected by Fort William and Mary, the rebel government moved the capital inland to Exeter, safe from the Royal Navy. The Navy bombarded Falmouth (now Portland, Maine) on October 18, 1775. African Americans helped defend Portsmouth and New England during the war. In 1779, 19 slaves from Portsmouth wrote a petition to the state legislature and asked that it put an end to slavery, in recognition of their contributions and in keeping with the principles of the Revolution.^[5] Their petition was not answered then, but New Hampshire later ended slavery.

Thomas Jefferson's 1807 embargo against trade with Britain withered New England's trade with Canada, and a number of local fortunes were lost. Others were gained by men who acted as privateers during the War of 1812. In 1849, Portsmouth was incorporated as a city.^[4]

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.^[4] A fire district was created that required all new buildings within its boundaries to be built of brick with slate roofs; this created the downtown's distinctive appearance. The city was noted for producing boldly wood-veneered Federalist furniture, particularly by master cabinet maker Langley Boardman.

The Industrial Revolution spurred economic growth in New Hampshire mill towns such as Dover, Keene, Laconia, Manchester, Nashua and Rochester, where rivers provided power for the mills. It shifted growth to the new mill towns. The port of Portsmouth declined, but the city survived through its Victorian doldrums, a time described in the works of native son Thomas Bailey Aldrich, particularly in his 1869 novel The Story of a Bad Boy.

Congress Street c. 1905

With the protection of a Historic District Commission, much of the city's irreplaceable architectural legacy survives. It draws 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.^[7]

Portsmouth shipbuilding history has had a long symbiotic relationship with Kittery, Maine, across the Piscataqua River. Naval hero John Paul Jones boarded at the Captain Gregory Purcell house, which now bears Jones's name and serves as the Portsmouth Historical Society Museum. During that time, Jones's 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.^[8] President Theodore Roosevelt arranged for the base to host negotiations leading to the 1905 Treaty of Portsmouth, ending the Russo-Japanese War.

• Jackson House, Portsmouth, NH.jpg

  Jackson House (1664) as it appeared in 1909

• The Warner House, Portsmouth, NH.jpg

  Warner House (1716) in 1902

• Wentworth-Coolidge Mansion, Portsmouth, NH.jpg

  Wentworth-Coolidge Mansion (1750) in 1902

• The Moffatt-Ladd House, Portsmouth, NH.jpg

  Moffatt-Ladd House (1763) in 1905

• 

  First Wentworth House, c. 1907

Geography[link]

Governor Langdon House (1784)

Governor Goodwin Mansion (c. 1811), Strawbery Banke Museum

Old Custom House & Post Office (1860), designed by Ammi B. Young

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 16.8 square miles (44 km²), of which 15.6 square miles (40 km²) is land and 1.2 square miles (3.1 km²), or 7.03%, is water. Portsmouth is drained by Sagamore Creek and the Piscataqua River. The highest point in the city is 100 feet (30 m) above sea level, within Pease International Airport.

The city is crossed by Interstate 95, U.S. Route 1, U.S. Route 4, New Hampshire Route 1A, New Hampshire Route 16, and New Hampshire Route 33.

Demographics[link]

As of the census^[10] of 2000, there were 20,784 people, 9,875 households, and 4,858 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,331.3 people per square mile (514.1/km²). There were 10,186 housing units at an average density of 652.5 per square mile (251.9/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 93.55% White, 2.13% African American, 0.21% Native American, 2.44% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 0.28% from other races, and 1.36% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.35% of the population.

There were 9,875 households out of which 20.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 37.8% were married couples living together, 8.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 50.8% were non-families. 38.9% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.04 and the average family size was 2.75.

In the city the population was spread out with 17.2% under the age of 18, 7.2% from 18 to 24, 36.2% from 25 to 44, 23.2% from 45 to 64, and 16.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 94.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.0 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $45,195, and the median income for a family was $59,630. Males had a median income of $41,966 versus $29,024 for females. The per capita income for the city was $27,540. About 6.4% of families and 9.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 14.3% of those under age 18 and 8.4% of those age 65 or over.

Sites of interest[link]

• USS Albacore Museum & Park – a museum featuring the USS Albacore, a U.S. Navy submarine used for testing, which was decommissioned in 1972 and moved to the park in 1985. The submarine is open for tours.
• Buckminster House - built in 1725, formerly a town morgue^{[citation needed]}
• The Music Hall – a 900-seat theater originally opened in 1878. The theater is now run by a non-profit organization and currently under restoration. The venue hosts musical acts, theater, dance and cinema.
• North Church – historic church, the steeple of which is visible from most of Portsmouth
• New Hampshire Theatre Project – founded in 1986, a non-profit theater organization producing contemporary & classical works, and offering educational programs.^[11]
• Players' Ring – founded in 1992, a community theater to "promote the efforts of local artists through the production of original works."
• Pontine Theatre – Produces original theater works based on the history, culture and literature of New England at their 50-seat black box venue.^[12]
• Portsmouth Athenæum – a private membership library, museum and art gallery open to the public at certain times.
• Portsmouth Harbor Lighthouse – first established in 1771, the current structure was built in 1878 and is open for monthly tours from May through September.
• Prescott Park Arts Festival – summer entertainments in Portsmouth's waterfront park.^[13]
• Seacoast Repertory Theatre – founded in 1988, a professional theater troupe.^[14]
• Strawbery Banke Museum – 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.
• Whaling Wall – Painting of Isles of Shoals Humpbacks created by Robert Wyland, situated on the back of Cabot House Furniture. It is in disrepair, and restoration has not been allowed by the owners of Cabot Furniture.^[15]

Historic house museums[link]

• Richard Jackson House (1664)
• John Paul Jones House (1758)
• Governor John Langdon House (1784)
• Tobias Lear House (1740)
• Moffatt-Ladd House (1763)
• Rundlet-May House (1807)
• MacPheadris-Warner House (1716)
• Wentworth-Coolidge Mansion (1750)
• Wentworth-Gardner House (also called Wentworth House) (1760)

Economy[link]

View of Jefferson Street at the Strawbery Banke Museum

Heinemann USA is based in Portsmouth. Before its dissolution, Boston-Maine Airways (Pan Am Clipper Connection), a regional airline, was headquartered in Portsmouth.^[16]

Top employers[link]

According to the City's 2009 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report,^[17] the top ten employers in the city are:

Sustainability[link]

Detail of the former Rockingham Hotel, rebuilt in 1885 by Frank Jones after the original structure burned

In 2006 Portsmouth became an Eco-municipality.^[18]

Sister cities[link]

This unreferenced section requires citations to ensure verifiability.

Portsmouth has five sister cities, as designated by Sister Cities International:

• Nichinan, Japan
• Pärnu, Estonia
• Severodvinsk, Russia
• Szolnok, Hungary

Friendship city:

• Portsmouth, England, UK

Notable people[link]

Education[link]

• Hesser College
• Southern New Hampshire University – Portsmouth campus
• Franklin Pierce University – Portsmouth campus

Media[link]

Print[link]

• The New Hampshire Gazette
• The Portsmouth Herald
• The Wire^[19]

Radio[link]

• WSCA-LP Portsmouth Community Radio 106.1 FM
• WHEB 100.3 FM rock formatted
• WMYF 1380 AM adult standards

See also[link]

• Portsmouth Public Library (New Hampshire)

Notes[link]

1. ^ The Rockingham County towns (not cities) of Derry (33,109), Salem (28,776), and Londonderry (24,129) had greater populations according to the 2010 census.
2. ^ ^{a b} United States Census Bureau, American FactFinder, 2010 Census figures. Retrieved April 1, 2011.
3. ^ ^{a b} "NOTE: Change to the New Hampshire 2010 P.L. 94-171 Summary File data as delivered". U.S. Census Bureau. http://www.census.gov/rdo/pdf/NH_errata.pdf. Retrieved February 13, 2012. 
4. ^ ^{a b c d} Coolidge, A. J.; J. B. Mansfield (1859). A History and Description of New England. Boston, Massachusetts: H. G. Houghton and Company. pp. 622–629. http://books.google.com/books?id=OcoMAAAAYAAJ. 
5. ^ ^{a b} Ring, Phyllis. "The Place Her People Made". The Heart of New England. http://www.theheartofnewengland.com/travel-NH-Black-History.html. Retrieved August 27, 2010. 
6. ^ Robinson, J. Dennis. "Paul Revere's Other Ride". Seacoast NH History. http://seacoastnh.com/history/rev/revere.html. Retrieved August 27, 2010. 
7. ^ "Dozen Distinctive Destinations: Portsmouth, NH". Preservation Nation. http://www.preservationnation.org/travel-and-sites/sites/northeast-region/portsmouth-nh-2008.html. Retrieved 27 August 2010. 
8. ^ Brewster, Charles W.. "The Ship "America" and John Paul Jones". Seacoast NH. http://www.seacoastnh.com/brewster/82.html. Retrieved August 27, 2010. 
9. ^ "Census". United States Census. http://www2.census.gov/prod2/decennial/documents/1850a-02.pdf.  page 36
10. ^ "American FactFinder". United States Census Bureau. http://factfinder.census.gov. Retrieved 2008-01-31. 
11. ^ "New Hampshire Theatre Project". http://nhtheatreproject.wordpress.com/. Retrieved August 27, 2010. 
12. ^ "Pontine Theatre, Portsmouth, NH". pontine.org. http://www.pontine.org/. Retrieved August 27, 2010. 
13. ^ "Prescott Park". prescottpark.org. http://www.prescottpark.org/. Retrieved August 27, 2010. 
14. ^ "Seacoast Repertory Theatre". seacoastrep.org. http://www.seacoastrep.org/. Retrieved August 27, 2010. 
15. ^ Choate, David "Whaling Wall endangered" Sept. 14 2010, Seacoast Online
16. ^ "Pan Am Clipper Connection". Archived from the original on January 11, 2007. http://web.archive.org/web/20070111211702/http://www.flypanam.com/contact.html. Retrieved August 27, 2010. 
17. ^ City of Portsmouth CAFR
18. ^ "Eco-municipalities". instituteforecomunicipalities.org. http://www.instituteforecomunicipalities.org/Eco-municipalities.html. Retrieved August 27, 2010. 
19. ^ The Wire

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Portsmouth, New Hampshire

• City of Portsmouth official website
• Greater Portsmouth Chamber of Commerce
• Portsmouth Historical Society
• New Hampshire Economic and Labor Market Information Bureau Profile
• Historic Military Sites in Portsmouth from American Forts Network

Coordinates: 43°04′33″N 70°45′39″W / 43.07572°N 70.76075°W / 43.07572; -70.76075

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Portsmouth
—  City and Unitary Authority Area  —
City of Portsmouth
Portsmouth Skyline viewed from Portsdown Hill
Official logo of Portsmouth Arms of Portsmouth City Council
Nickname(s): Pompey
Location within Hampshire
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Constituent country	England
Region	South East England
Ceremonial county	Hampshire
Admin HQ	Portsmouth City Centre
Government
• Type	Unitary authority, City
• Governing body	Portsmouth City Council
• Leadership	Leader & Cabinet
Area
• City and Unitary Authority Area	15.54 sq mi (40.25 km2)
Population (2010 est.)
• City and Unitary Authority Area	207,100 (Ranked 76th)
• Urban	442,252
• Metro	1,547,000
• Ethnicity (United Kingdom Census 2006 Estimate)[1]	91.4% White 3.6% S.Asian 1.2% Black 1.3% Mixed 2.5% Chinese and other
Time zone	GMT (UTC0)
• Summer (DST)	BST (UTC+1)
Website	Portsmouth City Council

Portsmouth (ⁱ/ˈpɔːtsməθ/) is the second largest city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire on the south coast of England. Portsmouth is notable for being the United Kingdom's only island city; it is located mainly on Portsea Island.^[2] It is situated 64 miles (103 km) south west from London and 19 miles (31 km) south east from Southampton.

As a significant naval port for centuries, Portsmouth is home to the world's oldest dry dock still in use and also home to some famous ships, including HMS Warrior, the Tudor carrack Mary Rose and Lord Nelson's flagship, HMS Victory. Although smaller than in its heyday, the naval base remains a major dockyard and base for the Royal Navy and Royal Marine Commandos whose Headquarters resides there. There is also a thriving commercial ferryport serving destinations on the continent for freight and passenger traffic. The City of Portsmouth and Portsmouth Football Club are both nicknamed Pompey.

The Spinnaker Tower is a striking recent addition to the city's skyline. It can be found in the redeveloped former HMS Vernon, formerly a shore establishment or 'stone frigate' of the Royal Navy, now an area of retail outlets, restaurants, clubs and bars now known as Gunwharf Quays.

The City of Portsmouth has a population of 207,100 and is the only city in England with a greater population density (5,145 /km² (13,330 /sq mi)) than London (4,984 /km² (12,910 /sq mi)). The Portsmouth Urban Area, which includes Fareham, Portchester, Gosport and Havant, is the 14th largest urban area in the United Kingdom and the largest in Hampshire, with an estimated 442,252 residents. Portsmouth combines with Southampton to form a single metropolitan area with a population over a million, one of the United Kingdom's most populous metropolitan areas.^[3]

History[link]

There have been settlements in the area since before Roman times,^[4] mostly being offshoots of Portchester,^[5] which was a Roman base (Portus Adurni) and possible home port of the Classis Britannica.^[6] Portsmouth is commonly regarded as having been founded in 1180 by the Anglo-Norman lord Jean de Gisors.^[7] Most early records of Portsmouth are thought to have been destroyed by Norman invaders following the Norman Conquest.^[8] The earliest detailed references to Portsmouth can be found in the Southwick Cartularies.^[9] However, there are records of "Portesmūða" from the late 9th century, meaning "mouth of the Portus harbour".^[10] The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle entry for 501 claims that "Portesmuða" was founded by a Saxon warrior called Port,^[11] though historians do not accept that origin of the name.^[12] The Chronicle states that:

Her cwom Port on Bretene ⁊ his .ii. suna Bieda ⁊ Mægla mid .ii. scipum on þære stowe þe is gecueden Portesmuþa ⁊ ofslogon anne giongne brettiscmonnan, swiþe æþelne monnan. (Here Port and his 2 sons Bieda and Mægla came to Britain with 2 ships to the place which is called Portsmouth and slew a young British man, a very noble man.)

Portsmouth Cathedral has been the seat of the Bishop of Portsmouth since 1927.