This summer several of the seacoast towns of New Hampshire are commemorating their
400th 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 400th
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 1st – “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, (
