Seacoast New Hampshire Commemorates 400 years!

 

This summer several of the seacoast towns of New Hampshire are commemorating their 400^th anniversary.  The official Portsmouth 400 website states “400 Years of History”, which is not very politically correct, but fortunately there are events scheduled to commemorate the region’s history going back to Native settlement and history much further back in time than 400 years!

The seacoast region of New Hampshire was the land of the Wabanaki nation known as N’dakinna.  In 1623 European settlement began, although the region had been visited by fishermen and explorers for decades previous to 1623.  Historians believe that David Thompson and his fishing settlement on Odiorne Point was the first permanent settlement by the English. This was followed by settlements on Great Island (New Castle) and Strawberry Bank (Portsmouth) since the Piscataqua River area offered such a great deep water harbor. 

Dover, Portsmouth, and Rye all have committees and websites with history, lists of events and more. Part of the Seacoast’s 400^th Anniversary celebrates the “Founding Families” of New Hampshire.  If you are descended from these families, you might want to attend some of the events happening this summer.  I will try to update this list of events as I hear about them. 

July 19 – “Governor’s Council Meeting” 10am, at the Rotary Arts Pavilion in Dover (in case of rain Dover City Hall Auditorium)

July 26, August 2 – “Soup and History” 5:30pm, at the Warner House Museum, 150 Daniel St., Portsmouth

July 26, August 2 – “Portsmouth Underbelly Tour” 6pm, outside the Rusty Hammer, 49 Pleasant St., Portsmouth

July 27 -  “Parade of Sails and Flotilla”  Prescott Park, Portsmouth (tall ships, military and municipal vessels, and dozens of private pleasure craft)

July 28 – 31 – “Tour the Tall Ships”   Portsmouth Commercial Fish Pier

August 1 – 31 – “Scenes from Portsmouth’s 400 Years” Museum of Dumb Guy Stuff, 114 Mechanic St, Portsmouth

August 3 – “A Rare Isles of Shoals Tour” 9am – 10am tickets at this link:  https://www.ryenh400.org/events/a-rare-isles-of-shoals-tour-py7l2

August 4 – “Locke Family Reunion”  see this link https://www.ryenh400.org/events/rye-founding-families-wtbz8

August 5 – “Rye Town Scavenger Hunt” 1pm at the Rye Congregational Church, 580 Washington Rd

August 6 – “Rye Founding Families”, 11:30 – 4:30pm, on the Rye Town Green, next to the Rye Library, 10 Old Parish Rd, Rye, NH - genealogists will be on hand, several family associations (including LOCKE, fish chowder, and full day admission to the Rye Historical Society Museum.  Food truck until 2pm.  

August 11 – “Milestone Anniversary Celebration by the Greater Dover Chamber of Commerce” 5pm at 6 Washington St., Dover  

August 19 – “Odiorne Family Reunion” 10am – 4pm at Odiorne State Park, Rye

September 4 – “Rye Trolley Tour”, 9:45am – noon, meet up at 10 Olde Parish Rd, Rye. Purchase tickets at this link: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/labor-day-historic-trolley-tour-tickets-594828848097?aff=oddtdtcreator

September 14 – “Rye History with Author Dennis Robinson: The forgotten arrival and strange disappearance of New Hampshire’s founding family”, 7pm at

October 1^st – “The Great Portsmouth Picnic” noon – 3pm at Leary Field, Parrott Ave, Portsmouth

October 7 – Dover 400 Apple Harvest Day

October 8 – “Rye History – African Americans in Rye” 1pm at the Rye Congregational Church

November 8, “Anne Jennison presents “The Impact of 500 years of colonization on the Abenaki-Wabenaki People of the Northeast” 6:30pm at the Rye Public Library

For the truly curious:

Dover, NH 400 website:  https://dover400.org/

Portsmouth, NH 400 website:   https://www.portsmouthnh400.org/ 

For more Portsmouth events see:   https://www.portsmouthnh400.org/overview-calendar 

Portsmouth 400 on Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/PortsmouthNH400/  

A list of events from the Portsmouth Historical Society:  https://portsmouthhistory.org/theeventscalendarpluginpage/tag/portsmouth-400/ 

Rye, NH 400 website:  https://www.ryenh400.org/ 

Rye 400 events:  https://www.ryenh400.org/events 

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To cite/link to this blog post:  Heather Wilkinson Rojo, “Seacoast New Hampshire Commemorates 400 years!”, Nutfield Genealogy, posted July 18, 2023, ( https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2023/07/seacoast-new-hampshire-commemorates-400.html: accessed [access date]).