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portsmouthathenaeum

Non-profit membership library, historical research center, museum & exhibit gallery.
👉Follow us for local Seacoast history👈 #CollectPreserveShare📖

✍Style does not stop for shipwrecks.⚓ This fi

✍Style does not stop for shipwrecks.⚓

This fine c.1883 trade card of three men in a bowler (that old nursery rhyme😏) was used by E.S. Fay's haberdashery at 3 Congress Street, advertising men's clothing, boots, hats and caps. #ArchivesTipOfTheHat

Born in Windsor, Vermont, Edmund S. Fay (1840-1893) established his shop off Market Square in 1872. In 1889-1890, Fay was elected mayor of Portsmouth. He and his wife Francelia "Frances" M. Kendall had one son, William H. Fay (b. 1866), who took over the business upon his father's death in 1893.

Here's to a dapper weekend ahead of us!💫

#ArchivesHashtagParty #ESFays #congressstreet #hatsandcaps #threemeninabowler #ephemera #collectpreserveshare📖 #localhistory #PortsmouthNH #nh #maine #seacoast❤

Happy #nationallibraryweek! This #throwbackthursd

Happy #nationallibraryweek!

This #throwbackthursday pic shows the Reading Room during the 1950s taken by commercial photographer Douglas J. Armsden (1918-2009) of Kittery Point, Maine. Did you know this room was used as a reading room even before the Athenaeum acquired the space in 1823? Original owner the New Hampshire Fire & Marine Insurance Company used this as their Reading Room starting in 1808, offering their subscribers the usage of newspapers and other periodicals.

[Armsden Photograph Collection, P15.019]

Membership libraries were first created in the 18th century for the mutual edification of their members and to elevate the educational resources available in the community. The name “Athenæum” was used by a number of societies established during the 19th century to describe institutions with broader aims than just a library. The term is derived from Athena, the Greek goddess of wisdom, and the classical temple of the arts and sciences named to honor her.

While there were once hundreds of membership libraries across America, there are now fewer than twenty left, and we're one of them, right here in your Seacoast community!

The Portsmouth Athenaeum Research Library is open to the public and ready to help navigate your journey through local history. Search our online catalog or make an appointment for in-person research by phone 603-431-2538 or email info@portsmouthathenaeum.org.

Find more info on our website. Link in bio.

#readingroom #marketsquare #DouglasArmsden #collectpreserveshare📖 #localhistory #PortsmouthNH #nh #maine #seacoast❤

Happy Easter!🐰🐣 Over sixty years ago, a cro

Happy Easter!🐰🐣

Over sixty years ago, a crowd of children are seen picking out their brightly colored Easter baskets at the close of the annual Easter Egg Hunt at the South Playground in Portsmouth.

Presented by the Portsmouth Recreation Department, this April 16, 1960-egg hunt also included free ice cream for the youngsters. Easter candy AND ice cream?! That must have been some afternoon for the parents.🥴

Pictured in the upper right is Coach Arthur Clough, and the photographer was Winston "Winnie" Johnson.

[Given by the family of Arthur C. Clough Sr., Golden Eagles Slide Collection, P0066_008.]

#happyeaster #easteregghunt #southplayground #slides #winniejohnson📷 #collectpreserveshare📖
#localhistory #PortsmouthNH #nh #maine #seacoast❤

Hats off to the weekend?! Poppycock! But we will g

Hats off to the weekend?! Poppycock! But we will gladly promenade to the April #ArchivesHashtagParty to show off our stylish chapeaus. #ArchivesTipOfTheHat.

Pictured is Mary Barrett Wendell Wheelock van der Woude (1883-1975) of the Wendell family of Portsmouth, Boston & beyond. This undated photograph was taken at the studio of Le Mesurier & Marshall of London. [P0003_128]

Mrs. van der Woude has a connection to a famous British TV series on PBS. Judging by the photograph, any guesses?

Mary was the daughter of Barrett & Edith Greenough Wendell. Barrett was an English professor at Harvard, and Edith was known for her historic preservation work particularly when the family returned to the Wendell ancestral home in Portsmouth.

Mary was born in Boston, and she married her first husband, Geoffrey Manilus Wheelock (1879-1920), here at the North Church on September 8, 1902. They had one son, Thomas Gordon Wheelock (1904-1967). This marriage would end before 1920.

Mary's second husband was Reiner Garrit Anton van der Woude (1885-1962) who was born in Amsterdam, Netherlands. They had a son Capt. Reiner Garrit Anton van der Woude Jr. (1920-1999). The family lived in Eastry in Kent, England.

In 1945, son Gerrit married Lady Anne Penelope Marion Herbert, daughter of Lt. Col. Henry George Alfred Marius Victor Francis Herbert, 6th Earl of Carnarvon and Anne Catherine Treddick Wendell. The family seat was Highclere Castle. Does this sound familiar?

Highclere was the setting for the PBS series Downton Abbey, and the storyline of characters such as Cora Levinson Crawley has similarities to that of Lady Penelope's mother Countess Catherine Tredick Wendell Herbert, the cousin of Mary van der Woude.

In 2012, the Athenaeum exhibit "Downton Abbey: the Portsmouth Connection" featured letters, photographs, ephemera, etc. from the Wendell family manuscript collection and the popular British drama. The exhibit was curated by Proprietor Ronan Donohoe.

Now, who else has an urge to revisit the Dowager?🙋‍♀️🙋‍♂️🔔🇬🇧🍵

#wendellfamily #highclerecastle #maryvanderwoude #countessofcarnarvon #cousins #collectpreserveshare📖 #localhistory #PortsmouthNH #nh #maine #seacoast❤

Opening day!⚾️ While the @redsox postponed un

Opening day!⚾️

While the @redsox postponed until tomorrow, we're just throwing it out there that we'll gladly keep score anytime. #gosox

These three real photo postcards depict scenes from the Shattuck Shipbuilders baseball team playing in the Sunset League at Leary Field in Portsmouth in 1918. Check out the crowd!😲

As a member of the Sunset League, the Shipbuilders played against teams from the Atlantic Corp. Shipyard, the Army, the YMCA and others.

During WWI, the L.H. Shattuck Shipyard was established in nearby Newington and was considered one of New England's last and largest wooden shipyards. On six ways, Shattuck launched 15 3,500-ton steam-powered cargo ships for the US Emergency Fleet Corp. The merchant fleet was used to transport supplies, food, and ammunition to the US troops.🇺🇲

At the peak of operation, Shattuck employed over 8,000 people a day with 5,500 working the day shift and 2,800 working the night shift. The president of the shipyard was Louis H. Shattuck (1874-1919) who had practiced law before entering into the building and contractor trade. L.H. Shattuck was a gifted problem solver and by all accounts a fair and thoughtful leader.

The shipyard functioned as a small village, and L.H. Shattuck wanted everyone to feel part of the community by offering various events and activities when workers were not in the Yard. The baseball team was created with the philosophy of necessary relaxation due to the intense concentration required of the shipbuilders.

[Given in memory of L.H. Shattuck and his daughter Althea, Shattuck Shipyard Collection, P0065_056, 058, 059]

#openingday #sunsetleague #learyfield #shattuckshipyard #louishshattuck #redsox #rppc #collectpreserveshare📖 #localhistory #PortsmouthNH #nh #maine #seacoast❤

Thank you to all our healthcare workers for their

Thank you to all our healthcare workers for their continued efforts to keep us healthy. 🙏🏥🩺

For #NationalPhysiciansDay, here is a publicity photo of identified surgeon Dr. Charles "Chappy" Thayer (1926-2012) and his young unidentified patient at the old Portsmouth Cottage Hospital on Junkins Avenue, taken in 1960 by photographer Wing M. Moon.

[Portsmouth Hospital Photograph Collection, P0017_036g]

There are about 22 publicity photos taken by Moon for the Cottage Hospital, but little is known about the project or the photographer.

The Cottage Hospital would eventually be known as Portsmouth Regional. In 1986, a new Portsmouth Regional Hospital opened off Borthwick Avenue on the outskirts of the city. The old hospital complex on Junkins Avenue was transformed into City Hall, the Portsmouth PD, and senior housing.

Wishing everyone and their families a safe and healthy spring!🌷

#PortsmouthCottageHospital #junkinsavenue #healthcareheroes s #thankyou🙏 #PortsmouthNH #collectpreserveshare📖 #localhistory #seacoast❤

Before finding ourselves lost yet again in the arc

Before finding ourselves lost yet again in the archives, we highlight one of our most popular and historically significant maps for our final #ArchivesYouAreHere post.

This version of the 1813 map hangs in our Research Library. In great detail, the map surveys downtown Portsmouth including wooden and brick dwelling houses, stores & other buildings, but the map also includes the location of the three major fires of Portsmouth in the years 1802, 1806 & 1813. While no lives were lost in any of these fires, the financial impact was devastating, and much of colonial Portsmouth was lost. [M0353]

All three conflagrations occurred around Christmas, and the Dec. 22, 1813-fire was the most destructive. The fire broke out near the corner of Pleasant & Court streets, and the winter winds carried embers east toward the wharves along the Piscataqua River. Embers landed on a roof several blocks away creating a second fire. Soon all of lower State Street and its environs went up in flames.

This 1813 map depicts not only the location the 1813 fire, but all the buildings lost in the blaze. Within 10 days of the "Great Fire," businesses were already advertising this new map for sale.

After the fire, the Brick Act of 1814 required any downtown building over one & a half stories to be built of brick.

Known officially as the Map of the Compact Part of the Town of Portsmouth in the State of New Hampshire, the 1813 map was originally surveyed in 1812 by John Groves Hales (c.1775-1832), a recent English immigrant to Portsmouth. Hales would also survey the frontiers of Canada & the United States before he settled in Boston. There, he created invaluable maps of the city and its surrounding communities. Working on a deadline by the MA General Assembly, Hales completed 45 maps of 48 towns between 1830 to 1831. Within a year and possibly due to this frantic pace, Hales died from an aplopexy at the age of 47.

Within our collection, we should note is Hale's 1812 map, which is the earliest detailed map of downtown Portsmouth. This map is also the most accurate as publishers would alter subsequent versions slightly.

#halesmap #PortsmouthNH #collectpreserveshare📖 #localhistory #seacoast❤

🌬Foggy Portsmouth.🌂 We ran the weather gamu

🌬Foggy Portsmouth.🌂

We ran the weather gamut today from rain to overcast clouds to a brief appearance of the sun before the fog quickly tucked us in for the night.🌙

Ah, New England.🥰

#memorialbridge #piscataquariver #PortsmouthNH #collectpreserveshare📖 #localhistory #nh #maine #seacoast❤

Beautiful day along the Seacoast!☀️ Pictured

Beautiful day along the Seacoast!☀️

Pictured is Henrietta McLean Hill (1872-1963) surrounded by heaven, er, puppies 🐶 at the Hill family's summer residence, The Barns, formerly off Wentworth Road (Route 1B) in Rye, NH. Undated. #nationalpuppyday

Henrietta's husband Arthur Dehon Hill (1869-1947) was a Boston lawyer notable as the defense attorney in the Sacco and Vanzetti appeal case in 1923. The Athenaeum holds extensive manuscript [MS030] and photo collections [P19] related to Arthur D. Hill's legal career in Massachusetts and his family life in New Hampshire.

[Hill Family Photograph Collection, P19_066]

#henriettamcleanhill #arthurdehonhill #thebarns #rye #puppies #collectpreserveshare📖 #localhistory #PortsmouthNH #nh #maine #seacoast❤

Happy Spring!🌤🌱🐦🌸 "For winter's rains

Happy Spring!🌤🌱🐦🌸

"For winter's rains and ruins are over, And all the season of snows and sins; The days dividing lover and lover, The light that loses, the night that wins; And time remembered is grief forgotten, And frosts are slain and flowers begotten, And in green underwood and cover Blossom by blossom the spring begins."

--Algernon Charles Swinburne (1837-1909)

This beautiful trade card comes from A.P. Wendell & Co. Hardware in Market Square, c. 1910.

[E 0678A]

#tradecards #apwendells #algernonswinburne #spring #birds #collectpreserveshare📖 #localhistory #PortsmouthNH #nh #maine #seacoast❤

Thar be the weekend ahead of ye. 🐳🏴‍☠️

Thar be the weekend ahead of ye. 🐳🏴‍☠️

Ahoy. Um, d-d-did we do that right? No? Argh...or maybe at this point our pirate talk is more of an ugh, but we can't help ourselves when reading this postcard map for the indelible Yoken's Restaurant. #ArchivesYouAreHere

Produced in 1952 by the Georges & Hartford advertising agency, the postcard shows how all roads (and bellies) led to Yoken's on the corner of U.S. Route 1 (Lafayette Road) and Peverly Hill Road. And when you saw the iconic neon whale sign, who couldn't resist a salty sea captain impression of "Thar She Blows!"

[PC0310]

The "Good Things To Eat" restaurant was owned by Harry E. Yoken (1898-1972), the son of Russian immigrants, and as the postcard advertises this was "one of the finest eating establishments on the entire Atlantic Coast."

Built in 1947, the popular restaurant would later expand with a conference center becoming for generations along the Seacoast the site of countless business and social events, family gatherings and class reunions.

The establishment closed in 2004, and the sprawling building was demolished; however, the historic neon sign was saved, restored, and eventually re-introduced in 2015. Restoration was made possible by @newburyportbank and 4 Amigos LLC. The sign, now at Yoken's Common, once again serves as a Seacoast landmark for landlubbers and those salty sea captain impressionists.😏⚓

👋We've included a c. 1960s night shot of the sign by prolific commercial photographer Douglas Armsden (1918-2009) from the P15 Armsden collection [P15.246]. As you know, we are currently processing thousands of additional Armsden negatives donated by his daughters between 2017-2020. We are still in need of funds to properly archive this "treasure chest" of local history. If you'd like to donate, click the link in our bio.🌟

Here's luck 'n fair wind t' ye weekend!🍍

#yokens #tharsheblows #lafayetteroad #usroute1 #DouglasArmsden #ArchivesHashtagParty #collectpreserveshare📖 #localhistory #PortsmouthNH #nh #maine #seacoast❤

On this date, Former Mayor Mary Carey Dondero (189

On this date, Former Mayor Mary Carey Dondero (1894-1960) became Portsmouth's first woman postmaster.♀️📫💪

The ceremony took place on March 15, 1952 (the day before her 58th birthday 🎂) at the Portsmouth post office, formerly on Pleasant Street. She was sworn in as acting postmaster by John J. Clougherty of Concord, postal inspector for the area. Dondero succeeded Peter J. Hickey who died Feb. 13, 1952. She held the position for 16 months.

[Dondero Foley Photograph Collection, P0050_093]

In Portsmouth, Mary C. Dondero was the first woman to serve on city council and the first woman elected as mayor, succeeding by just seven votes and holding the position from 1945 to 1947. She was also a member of the State Legislature and delegate for the 1948 Democratic national convention.

👉We have a few previous posts on Dondero's historic mayoral victory.

Mary and her husband Charles Dondero had four daughters including Former Mayor Helen "Eileen" Dondero Foley who served three different times for a total of eight terms, the longest-serving mayor in city history.

#MaryCDondero #postmaster #womenshistorymonth #herstory #otd #todayinwomenshistory #collectpreserveshare📖 #localhistory #PortsmouthNH #nh #maine #seacoast❤

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