Walking through history in Portsmouth, NH

Modern tugboats in Old Harbor

 

Portsmouth, New Hampshire, is a sea faring town. Sitting along the Piscataqua River, the numerous islands and inlets have offered a deep water harbor that is protected from the worst ocean weather. In fact, it has been home to a U.S. Navy base since 1800. A visit to Portsmouth is a walk back in time.

 

The European settlement of the area began in the early 17th century. The development of Portsmouth’s shipping and ship building industries made it a key part of the “Triangle Trade” and it profited both from the importation of enslaved Africans to the Americas, and the use of the enslaved in building its shipping and trade industries. In 2003, during a construction project, a burial ground of African Americans was discovered.

 

The historic center of Portsmouth is filled with homes and businesses in buildings that show off the city’s past. There are fine examples of colonial, Georgian, and Federalist architecture.

St. Johns Episcopal Church

Burial Crypts

 

You will also find some old houses of worship including the South Parish, built in 1825. Temple Israel, the oldest permanent Jewish congregation in New Hampshire, was founded in 1910, and its home is in a building that was constructed in 1828 as a Methodist Church.

South Parish

Temple Israel

No trip to Portsmouth would be complete without a boat trip along the Piscataqua River. Portsmouth Harbor Cruises offers a wonderful two-hour cruise from Old Harbor out to New Castle Island, at the mouth of the river, and back. Along the way, we passed historic buildings and two light Houses, the Whaleback Lighthouse and the Wood Island Life Saving Station.

 

Whaleback Lighthouse

The cruise also offers a great view of the Portsmouth Naval Station, which is actually in Kittery Maine. The station was founded in 1800. Today, the shipyard is home to the Navy’s Atlantic Nuclear Submarine Fleet. The base was also home to the Portsmouth Naval Prison, known as the “Alcatraz of the East”. The naval base is named in two major Hollywood films. The prison is the destination of Randy Quaid in The Last Detail, and it is where the Soviet submarine is heading at the end of The Hunt for Red October.

 

 

Portsmouth is a small city with a long history. It is a great place to spend a weekend exploring the past. 

 

 

Ogunquit Museum of American Art

 

The town of Ogunquit, Maine, has been a destination for artists for over one hundred years. The Ogunquit Artist Colony was founded at the end of the 19th century, and artists have flocked to the town’s beautiful cliffs ever since.

In 1951 Henry Strater, an artist and collector, founded the Museum of Art of Ogunquit, primarily as a collection of pieces by American artists who have worked in the area. The permanent home for the museum is along the shore of Perkins Cove, integrating views of the water, and a sculpture garden, into the museum’s space. It opened in 1953.

Henry Strater via www.ogunquitmuseum.org

Life Entwined by Antionette Prien Schultze

 

Today the museum is called the Ogunquit Museum of American Art. It is home to a permanent collection of over 3000 pieces. This collection allows the museum to maintain exhibitions that provide a look into the full history of American art.

 

 

The Smoker by Marcia Oakes Woodbury

Girl in Red with Elbow on Table by Henry Strater

In Bocca Lupo by Justin Liam O'Brian

512 by Panos Ghikas

The Bowery Drunks by Reginald Marsh

Untitled (Laborer) by Mark Brum

Interval by Hughie Lee-Smith

Emily in Repose by Frederick Andrew Bosley

Entrée by Hilaire Hiler

Night Shadows by Edward Hopper

 

The Ogunquit Museum of American Art also hosts temporary exhibits, and the current one is Anthony Cudahy: Spinneret (through July 21, 2024). Anthony Cudahy (b. 1989) was born in Florida, and now works and lives in Brooklyn, NY. His work bridges the figurative and abstract genres. They present scenes of life, many based on ole photographs that have begun to decay. Cudahy incorporates these changes into is paintings.

 

 

Three Ages

Lily and Snake Bundle

Sunset

Crowd (Day and Night)

The Ogunquit Museum of American Art is a great place to spend an hour our two while visiting the area. Enjoy great views of the bay and even better art. 

Marginal Way. Ogunquit, Maine

 

 

The southwest corner of Maine has become a prime destination of New England tourism, but that is not its origin story. The shape of the coast line, with its many inlets and protected bays allowed towns along the coast, that date back to the late 17th century, to serve as the base of fishing fleets. Ogunquit shares this history, with its Perkins Cove providing a safe haven.

Perkins Cove

Perkins Cove Drawbridge

 

In 1898, the Ogunquit Art Colony was formed. This changed the town, making it a destination for artists from the Boston area and beyond. As often happens, once artists started coming to the area, other people, mostly the rich, were close behind, and Ogunquit became a significant summer retreat. 

Stephen 's Brook Marshland

 

The monied class bought seafront property, while hotels and inns opened for those of more modest means. They all came for the chance to spend time enjoying Maine’s beautiful coast. In 1925, a 20 acre parcel of land that stretched along the cliffs of Maine’s coast was donated to the town by Josiah Chase Jr. His gift was made in order to preserve public access to shoreline. By the 1930’s the pathway was paved, and Marginal Way was created.

Perkins Cove

 

Marginal Way covers a length of about 1.25 miles along the cliffs of Ogunquit. One end is at Perkins Cove. Here you will find shops and restaurants along Harbor Lane. There is also a public parking lot and several private ones. The other end of Marginal Way is near the Sparhawk Oceanfront Resort, along Shore Road. Here, there is more parking, several municipal buildings, and access to Shore Road’s commercial area, near its intersection with US Route 1. The round trip walk is about 3 miles, and there are thirty-six benches on which to rest along the way. From July 1 through October, the town runs a trolley service that connects Perkins Cove to Shore Road, and goes on to the the hotels along Route 1. The trolley costs $5 for adults and $3 for children per ride.

 

Marginal Way is a great place enjoy Maine’s coast line. It is one of the few places where there is a long, developed path to take. Ogunquit wonderful town to enjoy a weekend away.