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,

A concert was given by Kevin Fennessey (of Portsmouth, RI) on October 30, 2021 at 7 PM at the Common Fence Point Community Center with proceeds going to the Society.  Kevin has a long history in Bluegrass and American Roots music. Starting at age 19 he has performed at music festivals from Maine to North

Members of the Portsmouth Historical Society were invited to an Open House by Jonathan and Erin Chapman, owners of the Glen Farm Millhouse at 120 Glen Farm Rd, Portsmouth. The couple was recently awarded the 2021 Historic Homeowner Rhody Award from Preserve Rhode Island and the Rhode Island Historical Preservation. They offered an exclusive opportunity

Lecture “Mother-Daughter Activists of the 19th/20th Centuries: Julia Ward Howe & Maud Howe Elliott” by Nancy Whipple Grinnell and Fred ZilianJulia Ward Howe is best remembered for writing “The Battle Hymn of the Republic;” however, she was much more. This talented, independent-minded woman of the 19th century was a poet, writer, playwright, preacher, lecturer, and

A tour was led by Stephen Luce at three cemeteries in Lawton Valley! First visited was the stone cellar hole. This was the home for many of those interred nearby. From there, we will walk to the oldest cemetery. It is currently unrecorded and contains several unmarked gravestones. It was discussed why they are unmarked.