As Time Goes By

Strawbery Banke Presents
HISTORIC PORTSMOUTH #220

Built on the site of the 1731 South Meeting House, the 1866 "Third Ward Hall" served a school and function hall. Black citizens celebrated Emancipation Day here in 1882. (Story continued below)

 

 

 

 HISTORIC PHOTOS of the Greater Portsmouth Area appear here weekl 

The building and steeple were restored (seen here) in the 1960s thanks to benefactor John Elwyn Stone. Stone was convalescing on "Hospital Hill" when he noticed from his window that the clock on the tower had stopped. Strawbery Banke leased the building from the city in 1967 for 99 years, but it was later occupied by the Children’s Museum. After 25 years in Portsmouth, the Children’s Museum recently moved to Dover.  

 

 This image from the book STRAWBERY BANKE:
A Seaport Museum 400 Years in the Making
by J. Dennis Robinson
(c) Strawbery Banke Museum Collection