Portsmouth Seal Shows Changed City
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Portsmouth Seal detailSeacoastNH.com Presents 
HistoricPortsmouth#503

What better way to "keep Portsmouth Portsmouth" than to measure our progress against the city's official seal from the past? I scanned this one from an 1873 report on the "Return of the Sons and Daughters" celebration, but there's a larger seal hanging on the wall of the city council chambers. (Click headline for full article) 

At first glance, it does not appear we are scoring too well. Gone are our proud high-rise breweries belching smoke. Gone is the high-speed public-access railroad, also belching smoke. And despite numerous attempts to build our own replica tall ship to honor Portsmouth's shipbuilding heritage, so far no luck. Our former iconic features have all moved off to other towns. We do welcome the tall ships of other port cities every summer. That has to be worth a few points. Or maybe the sailing ship in the logo symbolizes our almost 400-year history as a working port. At least we can keep that tradition alive, right? Or is it possible that the Old Town by the Sea continues to evolve as it did in the Industrial Age and the Age of Sail? Hey, don't shoot the historian. I'm only the messenger. (Courtesy author's collection)

Portsmouth NH city logo