Celia Thaxter Garden Early in the Season

Historic Portsmouth #356
From SeacoastNH.com
Our third Shoals photo in this spring series takes us back to Appledore Island with a towering view of the hotel that stood there until the great fire of 1914. More than 400 guests, plus staff, were “on island” in the peak season. The original hotel was under construction on “Hog Island” in 1847 when Celia Laighton Thaxter was just 12 years old. (Continued below)

 

 

In a letter discovered a few years ago on eBay she wrote to a friend: “The large house is all boarded, and already beginning to present quite an imposing appearance. There is to be one hundred windows in it... It did seem rather strange to hear such a continual noise of pounding and sawing and planning when I first heard it, but now I am quite used to it and do not mind it at all.” Celia’s famous “island garden,” seen here with an unidentified visitor, became the topic of her final book. A restored version of the garden is lovingly maintained today. Package tours to Celia’s Garden ($97) from New Castle are led by UNH Marine Docents. According to the Shoals Marine Lab Web site there are limited openings each year. The Web site address is CLICK HERE or call Pam Boutilier at 603-430-5220 with questions. (Photo courtesy of the Portsmouth Athenaeum)

 

BONUS PHOTO

(c) Portsmouth Athenaeum as seen on SEACOASTNH.com