SeacoastNH.com Presents 
Historic Portsmouth #353  

Despite calls to “keep Portsmouth Portsmouth” at all costs, the city continues to evolve. What was once the bustling South End waterfront, originally the commercial heart of the city, became the 20^th century site of coal pockets, hulking metal tanks, and a close-knit low-income neighborhood. (Continued below)

Then, thanks to a privately funded destruction project, Prescott Park replaced once-typical Portsmouth warehouses and saloons along Marcy Street. Just as Memorial Bridge goes up and down – and the fate of the bridge itself rises and falls – so neighborhoods change.  This picture, shot in 1924 the year after the bridge was built, offers a view of C.E. Walker & Co. “When you think of coal, think of us,” the painted sign reads. A slogan on the large tank says “Do it with gas.” Also visible at close inspection are signs for Fred C. Smalley Monuments, 7-20-4 Cigars, and Portsmouth Fish & Lobster Co., plus white sheets hanging on a clothesline, and a two-horse delivery wagon on the dock. (Photo courtesy of the Portsmouth Athenaeum)

BONUS CLOSE-UPS

Photos (c) Portsmouth Athenaeum
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