Franklin Block in Olden Days
  • Print

Wagon outside Robinson hotel in Portsmouth, NH / SeacoastNh.comStrawbery Banke Presents
HISTORIC PORTSMOUTH #133

The massive brick Franklin Block on Congress St replaced this magnificent structure. Wealthy cabinetmaker Langley Boardman built Franklin Hall in 1819. Inside the arched second floor window was a "spring floor" designed to absorb the bouncing of many dancers. The Masons met upstairs. It burned in 1879, six years after this rare photo.

HISTORIC PHOTOS of the Greater Portsmouth Area appear here weekly

Franklin Hotel in Portsmouth, NH 1873 (c) Strawbery Banke Museum


From HISTORIC PORTSMOUTH
Early Photographs from the Collections of Strawbery Banke
by James L. Garvin & Susan Grigg, Peter Randall Publisher
(c) Strawbery Banke Museum . All rights reserved

BONUS CLOSE-UPS

National Hotel sign across Congress St/ Strawbery Banke

Franklin Hotel detail/ Strawbery Banke Archive

Franklin Hotel bystanders detail (c) Strawbery Banke