Readers who looked carefully at our last aerial photograph of Puddle Dock could see this duplex in the center of the iamge. It faced Prescott Park on Marcy Stteet just opposite the historic Liberty Pole. (Click headline for EXCLUSIVE family photo album)

The federal urban renewal program of the late 1950s and early 1960s called for the removal of modern Puddle Dock structures built after 1830, as part of an historic restoration project that evolved into Strawbery Banke Museum. Despite a legal battle, the colonial-style "dream home" of Evelyn and Geno Marconi (insert) was demolished.

Marconi Home Lost to Urban Renewal in NH

The event politicized Mrs. Marconi who served for a decade as a city councilor and assistant mayor of Portsmouth. Today she continues to work at Geno’s, a sandwich shop on the South End, with her daughter Francesca. Geno’s is renowned not only for chowder, but as an important meeting place for conservative Republicans. During a 1992 campaign swing through the region, President George Bush publicly apologized when he missed stopping at Marconi’s riverside shop. (Photos courtesy of the Marconi Family)

EXCLUSIVE FAMILY ALBUM
photos courtesy of the Marconi Family

Click to see location of house on 1963
Aerial Photo of Puddle Dock

All photos (c) the Marconi Family
Portsmouth, NH