Portsmouth Athenæum

A non-profit membership library, gallery, and archive, incorporated in 1817 and located in the heart of historic Portsmouth, New Hampshire.

The third-floor Shaw Research Library and Randall Gallery are open to the public from 1 to 4 p.m. Tuesday thru Saturday. For elevator access, please call (603) 431-2538.

Check our calendar for tours of the first-floor Sawtelle Reading Room.

UPCOMING EVENTS

December 12, 2024
  • Athenaeum Holiday Concert

    December 12, 2024 @ 7:30 pm - 8:30 pm
    South Church Unitarian Universalist Church, 292 State Street, Portsmouth, NH 03801, USA

    Athenaeum Holiday Concert with the PortsmouthBrass 7:30 at South Church.

HOURS

 

Shaw Research Library &

Randall Gallery

 

Tuesday through Saturday

 

1 to 4 p.m.

 

 

Reading Room Tours

 
Volunteer Dependent
Saturdays &
Thursdays
 
1 to 2 p.m.
(Check our calendar.)

EXPLORE THE ARCHIVES

The Athenæum houses an outstanding collection of documents and artifacts relating to local history. It also preserves what is undoubtedly the finest collection in the state of materials relating to the history of New Hampshire’s only major seaport.

Carrying Our History: Native American Heritage Month

Carrying Our History: Native American Heritage Month

By Research Librarian Jessica McClain Before the founding of the Portsmouth Athenaeum—before Strawbery Banke—before Pannaway—the Abenaki called the land we now recognize as Portsmouth home. Oral tradition places this community in New Hampshire before Tribal...

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Fall 2024 Newsletter

Fall 2024 Newsletter

Autumn News at the Athenaeum The fall issue of the Athenaeum newsletter takes us from the attic of the Athenaeum (and the final resting place of two fishing spears donated in 1827) to the future of the Portsmouth Archive Project and the state of our State Street...

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