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Historic Portsmouth #384

This 19^th century view of State Street caught my eye this week. I’ll be coffee-chatting about history with members of the South Church this Sunday morning and have never seen this photo. It looks comfortably familiar, don’t you think? The apartment building still stands to the left of the Universalist Unitarian church, although the lovely home at the right was sacrificed to make way for a bank parking lot. (Continued below)

The Old Post Office building remains solidly on the corner of State and Pleasant streets. There was later a fountain in the empty oval space, but it has since been moved to Prescott Park. I lived for many years on this same block off Pleasant Street and from my rooftop, I could see into the huge windows of the Unitarian Church and hear the music rising toward heaven. Our discussion on Sunday will be about how significant the ministers of this seemingly peaceful church have been in Portsmouth history. The creation of the great granite building was controversial as were its religious leaders. (Courtesy of the Portsmouth Athenaeum)