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Portsmouth Settled in 1623, the Portsmouth area ranks as the third oldest in the country after Jamestown and Plymouth. In many ways it looks it, the early Colonial houses hugging the narrow streets and the busy riverfront conceding little to modernity. This is no Jamestown or Plymouth, nor is it a Newport, a similarly sized and situated community with which it occasionally is compared. The city has only one large hotel, its downtown blessedly few chain stores or trendy boutiques, its residents little sense of elitism. What it does have is a patina of living and working history, a pride in its past and present, and a noticeable joie de vivre. The sense of history is everywhere, from the famed restoration called Strawbery Banke to the ancient structures dating back to the 17th century tucked here and there all across town. Named for the profusion of wild berries found on the shores by the English settlers, Strawbery Banke after 37 years of restoration efforts is a living museum of more than 40 historic buildings at the edge of downtown. Portsmouth's pride in past and present evidences itself in the six museum homes of the Historic Portsmouth Trail and the creative reuse of old buildings around Market Square and on the Hill. You can sense Portsmouth's joie de vivre in its flourishing restaurants (good new ones pop up every year). Their number and scope are far beyond the resources of most cities of 26,000 and give it claim to the title, "Restaurant Capital of New England." You can see it in its lively Seacoast Repertory Theater. You can feel it in its Prescott Park Arts Festival, the Ceres Street Crafts Fair, the Seacoast Jazz Festival. The people on the streets and in the shops exude friendliness. Happily, Portsmouth retains its historic sense of scale. It is an enclave of antiquity along the tidal Piscataqua River, four miles inland from the Atlantic. The Portsmouth Navy Yard is across the river in Kittery, Me. The Pease Air Force Base is west toward Dover. The shopping centers and fast-food strips are out in Newington. The beach action is down in Rye and Hampton. Many tourists stay at motels near the Portsmouth Circle. While travelers pass by on the New Hampshire Turnpike, Air Force jets stream overhead, and tugboats and ocean vessels ply the river to and from the sea, Portsmouth goes its merry, historic way. Material excerpted from Inn Spots & Special Places in New England, by Nancy and Richard Woodworth. Copyright 2004. Wood Pond Press E-mail feedback to: Home
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