WHERE IS THOMSON MEMORIAL?
Dear SeacoastNH.com: I have been searching through your site and many others to find the location of the monument to the first settlers of NH. Have found much info but nothing that tells me exactly where the monument is located if one wanted to see it. Do you know where this is? Is it original location , has it been moved, some articles just say Rye, another says Portsmouth or Portsmouth Harbor, and another I found, although not recently, says Prescott Park. Any help you can provide is appreciated.
Joan Carlson

EDITOR’S REPLY: We aim to please. Following your note we took an entire day to seek out the elusive monument and post this web page with photos. New Hampshire has once again done an incredible job of hiding its historic light under a bushel. But the monument, moved in 1955, is still well cared for in a cemetery in the woods of Rye, not far from the assumed landing site of the first European settlers. Now what we really need is a monument to the thousands of Native Americans who died in the great pandemic (up to 95% of New England natives were killed in the early 1600s by viruses brought by European visitors). And one to Passaconaway who maintained peace in the region for the first 50 years of settlement. Seems all the good stories never get told which is why our view of history is so inaccurate, and our image of America so warped. SeacoastNH.com is dedicated to setting the record straight. Pass that on.-- JDR