Strawbery Banke
|
Strawberry Banke Historic District
|
|
 |
|
|
Jefferson Street within the Strawbery Banke district
|
|
 |
|
| Location | Portsmouth, NH Bounded by Court and Marcy Sts. and both sides of Hancock and Washington Sts. |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. |
| NRHP Reference # | 75000236 |
| Added to NRHP | June 20, 1975 |
Strawbery Banke is an outdoor history museum located in the South End historic district of Portsmouth, New Hampshire. It is the oldest neighborhood in New Hampshire to be settled by Europeans, and the earliest neighborhood remaining in the present-day city of Portsmouth. It features more than 40 restored buildings built between the 17th and 19th centuries in the Colonial, Georgian, and Federal style architectures. The buildings once clustered around a waterway known as Puddle Dock, which was filled in around 1900. Today the former waterway appears as a large open space.
History
The neighborhood's history traces back to 1630, when Captain Walter Neale chose the area to build a settlement, naming it after the wild berries growing along the Piscataqua River.[1] Strawbery Banke existed as a neighborhood for four centuries from 1630 to the late 1950s. The neighborhood's buildings were saved from 1950s urban renewal by the efforts of a large group of historic preservationists. Strawbery Banke opened as a museum in 1965.[2]
Education
Ten houses are open to the public as furnished historic interiors. Guests learn from staff interpreters the history and lifestyles of each house and how it reflects the social changes of its time period. In a few locations, costumed roleplayers portray characters from time periods past. There are also five formal exhibits on archaeology, architecture, woodworking tools and skills, post-and-beam construction, and amusements and entertainment. Hearth cooking and coopering demonstrations and tours are offered during a daily program season. Seasonal events are also held around major holidays.
Across the street from the museum are the riverside gardens and entertainments of Prescott Park.
Strawbery Banke was featured in Bob Vila's A&E Network production, Guide to Historic Homes of America.[3]
See also
References
Further reading
- Robinson, J. Dennis (2008) Strawbery Banke: A Seaport Museum 400 Years in the Making, ISBN 978-0-9603896-2-9
External links
 |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to [[commons:Lua error in Module:WikidataIB at line 506: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value).|Lua error in Module:WikidataIB at line 506: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value).]]. |
- Commons category link from Wikidata
- Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in New Hampshire
- Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in New Hampshire
- Historic house museums in New Hampshire
- Museums in Portsmouth, New Hampshire
- Open-air museums in New Hampshire
- Living museums in New Hampshire
- Historic districts in Rockingham County, New Hampshire
- Houses in Portsmouth, New Hampshire
- National Register of Historic Places in Rockingham County, New Hampshire
