April 30, 2022 – Stephen Luce of the Portsmouth Historical Society lead a tour and discussion of four cemeteries in Lawton Valley.  First was a visit to the stone cellar hole. It was the home for many of those interred nearby. Next was a walk to, ostensibly. the “oldest” cemetery. It was just recorded last year and […]

March 23, 2022. Another of the “Gentlemen’s Farms” in the southern part Portsmouth at the beginning of the 20th century was Sandy Point Farm. It was purchased in 1902 by Reginald Vanderbilt. Reginald was the youngest son of Cornelius and Alice Vanderbilt of the Breakers and the brother of Alfred Gwynne Vanderbilt who had a

March 19, 2022 – Lecture “Portsmouth Library 125th” by Jim Garman Portsmouth Free Public Library grew from a group of people called the Thursday Evening Group who met at the Guild House of St. Paul’s Church and at members’ homes to discuss literature and culture.  It was proposed that a meeting be held to explore

The Town and PHS celebrated Founders’ Day Showing the Portsmouth 1638 Compact and Southwick Declaration of Independence The Portsmouth Historical Society arranged a public viewing of the original 1638 Portsmouth Compact with the RI State Archives. they do this each year in March to commemorate its signing. An archivist with State Police escort carried this

After a 2 year pandemic hiatus, The Portsmouth Historical Society hosted its Fourth Annual Portsmouth History Trivia Night on Thursday February 17, 2022 from 6:30 PM to 8:30 PM at The Gulf Stream Bar and Grille, whose building itself is a part of Portsmouth’s history. The restaurant, located at 1 Lagoon Rd Portsmouth, is housed

Here is a short video clip from the 2021 Portsmouth Historical Society Annual meeting. PHS board member Stephen Luce discusses the colonial headstone of Lucy, an enslaved woman who died in 1776. This headstone was discovered in a wooded area within a newly identified historic cemetery

Dec 2, 2021 – The PHS Annual Members’ Meeting was held at the museum. All enjoyed refreshments at a post-meeting soft museum re-opening. 2021 Annual Meeting Slide Presentation See the video at the link below.

The Portsmouth Friends Meetinghouse, Parsonage, and Cemetery (also known as Portsmouth Friends Meeting House or Portsmouth Evangelical Friends Church) is a historic Friends Meeting House and cemetery of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers).  The current meetinghouse was built around 1699–1700. The building was used as a Quaker house of worship and school. During the

In the late 19th century a number of “Gentleman’s Farms” were created in South Portsmouth including Glen Farm, Sandy Point Farm, Oakland Farm, and others.             These were extensive farms of 150 acres or more. That area of town was the center of the town’s agrarian life. The owners were mostly from New York City,

On Halloween (October 31st 2021) Take Two Tandem Tellers hosted families in costumes! The Portsmouth Community Theater and The Portsmouth Historical Society presented a family friendly program of seasonal stories and songs. The Take Two Tandem Tellers Cindy Killavey and Anne Marie Forer shared “not too spooky” stories and songs with lots of audience participation,