RIPBS is filming a segment for their very successful series Treasures Inside the Museum at PHS. We can’t wait to see the final results sometime this spring.

Many people may be unaware of the influences and contributions of Indigenous peoples, such as the Narragansett and the Pokanoket, in the early history of Portsmouth. There is a general feeling and misconception that once Aquidneck Island was transferred to the English, Indigenous peoples were no longer a part of Portsmouth history. This lecture shed …

Nov 16, 2023 Lecture on Indigenous People During the Colonial Period Read More »

Some future historians from the 2nd grade at Highland Charter School in Warren came to visit. The Goodwife (Schoolteacher) talked to them about attending a one-room schoolhouse and they got to ring the old schoolbell. Spending time in the Old Town Hall helped them learn about Portsmouth’s agricultural past and they enjoyed our collection in …

Nov 2, 2023 – Future ‘Historians’ Visit Read More »

The Portsmouth Historical Society Museum hosted a remembrance ceremony of the tragic event. On Sunday, October 23, 1983, at about 6:20 a.m., a yellow Mercedes stake-bed truck crashed into the lobby of the barracks of the 1st Battalion 8th Marines before the driver detonated a suicide bomb. The bomb was the equivalent of about 12,000 …

Oct 23, 2023 – 40th Anniversary of Beirut Marine Barracks Bombing Remembered Read More »

NY Times Best Selling Author to Lecture of the War Between the Colonists and Native Americans NY Times bestselling author Michael Tougias gave a presentation on  the war between the Colonists and Native Americans in 1675-76 at the Portsmouth Historical Society on October 19th.  Tougias is the author of the acclaimed Until I Have No …

Oct 19, 2023 – NY Times Best Selling Author Lectures on the War Between the Colonists and Native Americans Read More »

Aquidneck Island has been subjected to a number of devastating hurricanes since colonial days. Over 70 people heard Town Historian Jim Garman talk about what it was like in the aftermath of the ‘38 and ‘54 hurricanes on the 85th anniversary of the 1938 hurricane.  This lecture included numerous photographs showing the serious damage done to …

Sept 21, 2023 – Jim Garman Talks About Hurricanes Read More »

 September 10, 2023. The Portsmouth Historical Society sponsored a Family Fun Day at the Museum. The free event included a ’living history’ display in the Society’s 1725 “Southermost” Schoolhouse as well as colonial games with prizes.   They met Schoolmaster James Preston who served as the first teacher and lived in the cellar of the school …

September 10, 2023 – Family Fun Day at the Museum Read More »

The Society joined the Sakonnet Coastal Bike & Stroll where families, children, and people of all ages and abilities to walk and bike along beautiful Park Ave and The Hummocks in Portsmouth, RI… and to enjoy this 2-mile expanse of coastal road free from motor vehicles. Participants enjoyed the beauty of Island Park and The …

September 9, 2023 – PHS Supports Bike and Stroll Event Read More »