On Saturday, June 14, the Athenaeum is closed to the public for Market Square Day.
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.
We have temporarily suspended tours of the Sawtelle Reading Room and 1805 Building.
UPCOMING EVENT
2025 Lecture Series: “Bedrock Gardens: The Journey from a Privacy Sanctuary to a Public Garden” with Jill Nooney
HOURS
Shaw Research Library &
Randall Gallery
Tuesday through Saturday
1 to 4 p.m.
Reading Room Tours
Unavailable at this time. Check back soon.
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.
June 2025: National Oceans Month–Wonder: Sustaining What Sustains Us
By Research Librarian Jessica Zaricki National Oceans Month is a time to highlight the importance of the world’s oceans. In Portsmouth, our history is inextricably linked to the sea. Please join us in taking the opportunity to appreciate, study, and protect this...
New Books in May
A budding reading habit this spring? We can help. Proprietors and Subscribers, click on the link below to discover the new books now available in the library. Not a Proprietor or a Subscriber? Find out how you can become a member and support the Athenaeum. Click the...
May 2025 Book List: April Showers Bring May Flowers!
By Research Librarian Jessica McClain This oft-quoted proverb dates back to a 16th century work by English poet and Farmer Thomas Tusser. The lines appear in a sonnet included in the piece “A Hundreth Good Pointes of Husbandrie” as “And Aprill his stormes, to be good...