We stayed overnight in a nice campground on a lake in Exeter, New Hampshire. The next morning, June 9th, we walked around
Exeter's downtown Historic District and were delighted with the architecture in this compact area. Many of colonial structures and monuments were built before the United States was born! Exeter has a long
history beginning with its founding in 1638 as one of the first four
townships of New Hampshire! The town's founder, Reverend John Wheelwright,
was an exile from the Puritan Massachusetts Bay Colony after he opposed
the religious and political positions of the Massachusetts church
hierachy. Wheelwright and his followers chose the falls of the
Squamscott River, where tidewater meets fresh water, to start his new
church and town. Wheelwright established a church shortly after his arrival. The Congregational Church was Exeter's only church for
over a century. Today you will see the 4th Meeting House, begun in 1798!
Wheelwright purchased the town site from the local Squamscott
Indians with its ample waterpower, forest resources and the great
fertility of the soil. Exeter's civic personality was a combination of industry, farming, commerce and learning. The enterprise of the settlers with all the above factors led to
Exeter's leading position in the 17
th and 18
th
centuries. During the American Revolution, Exeter was New Hampshire's capitol. Exeter's first Town House, its City Hall, was built in 1732.
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| The only City Hall in the Nation with a woman on top |
Historic Exeter Associates has published a fine Exeter Walking Tour booklet available at the Exeter Chamber of Commerce office. The town is proud of its historic preservation efforts of many of its early landmarks. One house belonged to Nicholas Gilman, a signer of the Declaration of Independence. George Washington had cocktails at the Folsom Tavern during a tour of New England!
Phillips Exeter Academy, a world class private secondary educational facility right in downtown Exeter was founded in 1781. Philanthropist John Phillips, a wealthy merchant, endowed the Academy with $60,000 in 1783, the largest endowment of an educational institution up to that time! The 4th Academy Building (1915) is very imposing! Exeter also had 2 private schools for young women, Exeter Female Academy and Robinson Female Academy.
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| The 1912 Davis Library of the Exeter Academy |
Exeter was a prominent printing center in New England, with the arrival of the first printing press in 1774! Exeter had an amazing number of industries using the falls of the Squamscott River for waterpower--- 4 grist mills, sawmills, 2 mills pressing linseed oil from flax seed and a mill cleaning woolen cloth.
George Washington noted during his 1789 visit that there was a snuff mill in operation and an iron slitting mill producing early nails, followed in 1802 by a factory producing the new machine-cut nails! In the 1790s Exeter had New Hampshire's only canvas factory making sailcloth for ships! Exeter had New Hampshire's first gunpowder factory plus paper mills and even chocolate mills! In 1803 a carding mill was built to produce yarn from wool fibers and mechanized textile production began in 1827 with large brick factories producing over 4 million yards of cloth by the 1880s. Tanneries, shoemaking, harness making, carriage construction, brickmaking, pottery, silversmithing and shipbuilding are all industries that flourished in Exeter over the years. Exeter was also a busy port for international commerce in the 18th Century.
Today, Exeter is a renowned center for education plus recent arrivals include a new chocolate factory, leather goods making, electronics assembly and toner cartridge recycling.
We especially liked the 1916 Swasey Pavilion designed by the architect of D.C.'s Lincoln Memorial, Henry Bacon. The Exeter Brass Band, founded in 1847 performs here in the summer.
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| If you go to the Academy you are an "Exonian"! |
Tourism is important as well. Parking is free; unusual today! Exeter is about an hour away from either Portland, ME or Boston, MA. And Exeter is only about 20 minutes from Portsmouth, NH where we shall take you next!
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| Where is number 5? |
The seaport now called Portsmouth was founded in 1630 on the banks of the Piscataqua River, which were covered with wild strawberries, thus naming the new village.Strawberry Banke. Fishing and farming were the early occupations but with an abundant supply of timber and a good harbor, shipbuilding became a major industry. In 1653, the town's name was changed to Portsmouth, attracting large number of merchants to set up shop.
Portsmouth had many pre-Revolution Patriot vs Tory confrontations and in 1774, Portsmouth patriots liberated a large amount of British ammunition and stores from Fort William and Mary that were later used in the first battles of the Revolution.
Shipbuilding in the early 19th century produced many of America's fast clipper ships. The
Ranger and the
America, America's first warships, whose construction was supervised by John Paul Jones, were built in Portland Harbor. In 1800, the U.S. Navy built the Portsmouth Navy Yard on Seavey's Island, a huge boon to Portsmouth's economy, and still in full operation today.
Portsmouth has a large collection of restored historic buildings and neighborhoods in winding hillside streets. Many of the fine homes were built by well to do 19th century ship captains. Many of the old warehouses and chandleries of the past in the Old Harbor have been re-purposed as restaurants, boutiques, offices and theaters.
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| This lion is protecting a new restaurant in an old building |
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| North Church |
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| Beautiful Mansard roof |
Harbor cruises are offered and a number of historic homes, including the 1758 John Paul Jones' house, are open to visitors.
The Historic Portsmouth organization offers a free and very informative 20 minute film of Historic Portsmouth. There is also an interesting exhibit on the Portsmouth Peace Treaty of 1905 that ended the Russo-Japanese War and especially President Teddy Roosevelt, the local diplomacy and tactics used to bring the two sides together.
Strawberry Banke today is an open air museum of 10 waterfront acres with 30 building from as far back as 1695. We were not able to visit because of time restraints but everyone we met suggested a visit!
Another interesting very large artifact is the USS Albacore (AGSS-569) a 205 foot submarine built in 1953 at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard. Albacore was in commission from 1953-1972 but never carried a weapon or went to war. Instead it was a research platform with a true underwater hull of cylindrical shape that is the standard for submarines today. For many years, Albacore was the world's fastest submarine. She was an afloat laboratory used to test new designs of control systems, dive brakes, sonar, escape mechanisms and much more. In 1985 she was set on a concrete cradle in a permanent dry berth as the centerpiece of Albacore Park in Portsmouth.
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| A very nice touch! |
We found both Exeter and Portsmouth to be excellent towns to spend a day or a weekend!
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