Portsmouth: A Historical Perspective

Portsmouth combines historic and contemporary photographs with excerpts from An Old Town by the Sea by revered essayist Thomas Bailey Aldrich. Together, the photographs and the essay reveal a place that began as a small port town that evolved into a thriving city on the New Hampshire seacoast. Aldrich recalls the day when President George Washington visited Portsmouth and said he "was not much impressed by the architecture." Today, Smestad shows the beauty of this city and its New England charm. Although much has changed, there is still of hint of old Portsmouth downtown, on the waterfront, and in Strawberry Banke.