December 28
MORE ON OLD FORT DEARBORN IN RYE
I have updated my "History of Fort Dearborn" website with new information and photos provided by Gene McManus and Tom Page of Radomes.org, regarding the history of the short-lived Rye Air Force Station and the Fort Dearborn Gap-Filler Annex air defense radar sites from 1949 - 1968. Any new information and/or photographs of these two little-known sites will be much appreciated. Thank you and enjoy.
Peter Payette, PortsmouthForts.com
http://www.geocities.com/nhfortress/Fort_Dearborn/history.html

December 28
RECALLING JULY 4 ON CHEBEAGUE
IslandMeMe@aol.com Just enjoyed your pictures taken on Chebeague during the annual 4th July parade. As a born and bred Islander, I have attended them all I suppose and participated in many while raising 4 children and being part of Fire and Rescue Depts. It is the big "opening" of the summer season for all of us and we are glad you came and apparently enjoyed all you saw. Hope you come again, and do put some more of those great pictures on the net for us to enjoy.
Dianne Calder of Chebeague Island
http://www.seacoastnh.com/dct/chebeague.html

December 26
THE TWO STARK MANSIONS IN DUNBARTON
What can you tell me about the history of Stark Mansion in Dunbarton, NH? Was it a residence of Gen John Stark or other of his family?
Myrna in Bowler, WI

EDITOR’S REPLY: NH is littered with Stark historic sites, even a town named for Stark. Dunbarton was one of John Wentworth’s old provincial logging towns where the King’s Forest was kept, It’s not in Seacoast, New Hampshire, and out of our range, but the question is intriguing, since we always thought the John Stark mansion is in Manchester, NH, not Dunbarton. Stark was born in Derry, NH on what is now Stark Road. Here’s a clue we found on the Internet version of “Bryant’s Popular History of the United States (1880):

“In the old farming town of Dunbarton, Merrimack County, New Hampshire, still stands the venerable mansion from which John Stark hurried with the farmers to Boston, at the news of the fight at Lexington, and which he had now again left to meet this marauding expedition sent against his own neighbors.”

Dunbarton, alonf Stark Highway, has a stark Mill, a Stark Pond and a Stark Cemetery (where poet Robert Lowell is buried, fyi). Also in Dunbarton we find, among the NH historic sites index, the following: “MOLLY STARK HOUSE” -- Built by her father, Capt. Caleb Page, c. 1759, this was Molly Page's home in her youth and as the wife of Gen. John Stark. Their first son, Caleb, who served with his illustrious father during the Revolution, was born here, as was Molly's brother, Jeremiah Page, later a Superior Court justice and delegate to the first Constitutional Convention (1778). This structure also housed the first Dunbarton Post Office (1834). “

THIS JUST IN: We called Bud Noyes of the Dunbarton Historical Awareness Committee who confirmed that there are indeed TWO Stark houses in that town – both privately owned and not open to the public. The Stark Mansion was, he says, built by John Stark’s son Caleb in 1781 – which indicates to us that the reference at the top of the page is not correct and that his dad did not stay there during the Revolutionary War. Bud says John Stark married Elizabeth Page (Molly Stark) in 1757 and built a sawmill in Dunbarton in 1760. It seems likely that John Stark stayed in Dunbarton during the Revolution at the Molly Stark House or one of the homes of his in-laws, but probably not – as far as we can gather – at the Stark mansion.

December 26
REMEMBERING CHRISTA
With a recent death of a family member, My aunt was very touched by a poem written about Christa Mcauliffe. She said it made her feel death was not all sad, but happy, because she would be with her dad someday again and be very happy. Do you know the poem I am speaking of??? Any info on how to locate it would be much appreciated!! most sincerely,
Jan Lund

EDITOR’S REPLY: We don’t know that one, but we did create a special Christa page in LINK FREE OR DIE so you can locate those resources. We suggest contacting the Christa McAuliffe Planetarium in Concord, NH directly with your question regarding the NH teacher lost in the space shuttle tragedy in 1986.
http://www.seacoastsearch.com/nhlinks/people/index.html

December 26
MARITIME ARTIST IN DURHAM
Dear SeacoastSeasrch.com Editor, Was surprised and delighted to find that you have listed me in the Arts section! Thank you! My husband and I have been enjoying your columns in Foster's for three years, since we moved to Durham. Especially interested in your historical maritime ones since we have been sailors and boaters for years. Most of my paintings are marine scenes, as you probably know from the watercolor site. The site is very well done and we will definitely visit often. Thanks again.
Nancy Davis Johnsons

December 23
MAILBAG CLOSING FOR XMAS NAP
Despite the backlog, we're going to get out of Dodge until Wednesday. Then we'll sort through the hundreds of emails that, even now, are piling up in our browser bag. We thought you'd all be out shopping in this great weather. Then it's time to celebrate the FIFTH birthday of SeacoastNH.com, coming up Jan 1, 2002. See you there!
Your humble editor

December 21
HAPPY BIRTHDAY BEN’S AUTO BODY
Ben's Auto Body...an independent, locally owned family (the Berounsky family) business in Portsmouth NH will be celebrating it's 70th anniversary in 2002! I'd like to get more information about how Portsmouth was back in 1932 and how it like Ben's has evolved and grown over the years. It'd be fun to do relevant parallels, etc. Do you have resources or could you point me in the right direction. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thomas Hughes, Columbus, Ohio

EDITOR’S REPLY: Yes, we’re on the Ranger Foundation board of trustess with Henry Berounsky himself, a proponent of local history. Despite our 3,000 web pages of local info, we’ve done little with eras as recent as the 1930s. There are a couple of fascinating guides to the region from that between war period. In the images, Portsmouth looks (to be honest) pretty bad. This was a gritty seaport then without the cute gentrification and renovation people are so used to today. It was an era of continuing racial and religious discrimination, lots of tough bars, and a rough and tumble maritime crowd. It was also the final years of the colonial revival when a number of historic homes were torn down and shipped off in pieces to be rebuild elsewhere. The Portsmouth Historical Society and the Thomas Bailey Aldrich house and a few similar places were up and running, but there was no Strawbery Banke, no Prescott Park, no wide brick tourist avenues in Market Square. Between the two world wars Portsmouth made a solid attempt to promote itself as a tourist site. The trains were still running and people could get out of the big city and rusticate here, but there were few of the fine restaurants known today, a couple of movie houses, mostly merchant shops downtown, lots of churches, stately but sometimes run-down historical houses.

We have a little tourist brochure from the 1930s published by the city. The cover reads: “The City by the Sea – Acres of Sunshine, Miles of View, Oceans of Invigorating Air.” There is a growing emphasis at this time on promoting Portsmouth as a business center, especially since the local economy always dipped after the surge of war that kept the Navy Yard busy. The Portsmouth Library and Athenaeum and Strawbery Banke have a large supply of photos of this era. Newspapers are on microfilm at the library as well as a set of news clipping in scrapbooks. Most books, however, focus on images from the late 1800s and early 1900s. In 1930, another war was building and urban renewal, that would cut chunks out of the historic city, was still decades away

December 21
ANOTHER SATISFIED SHOPPER
Keep up the great work. Your shopping sites came it very handy and I can always find something interesting when I log on to your site. “In Defense of the Grinch & Scrooge” by J. Robinson gets my vote for fun reading this month. Hope you all have a wonderful holiday.
ddgame
http://www.seacoaststore.com

December 20
CARRIAGE AT CHRISTMAS
Hi! Is there a schedule for the carriages that ride throught the streets? We want to take sone this weekend sometime.Thanks
JAnet M

EDITOR’S REPLY: You can reach the Portsmouth Livery by phone at (603) 427-0044. According to their voice message, the carriage is running from their Market Square stand in Portsmouth weekends (weather permitting). The scheduled hours are Saturday 12 noon into the evening and Sunday 12-5 pm. We think, and have said so often in print, that this independent service is one of the most important companies in the city. The presence of period carriages clip-clopping thoughout the downtown area is a vital part of our charm. We’re not sure local businesses understand how critical these private services are, and we hope the city will support this type of business in every way possible. These are the small but critical touches that make cultural tourism work, and measured on the proper scale, do more to enhance the local economy than most citizens realize. And have a nice rate through history!

December 20
NIGHT TUNES TURNS TWO
Just a quick e-note to wish you and yours a bountiful holiday season from me and mine. Night Tunes is now two years old, still barely breaking even, but still a ball to create and manage. Your article (Seacoast Site of the Week #4) helped put it on the map. Thanks again for your support!
George Kloda
http://www.seacoastsearch.com/feature4.htm

December 18
CIVIL WAR STATUE NOT FOUND IN EXETER
Do you know the location of a statue dedicated to a civil war soldier named either Sullivan or possibly O'Sullivan. I believe the statue is in Exeter possibly in the Town Common or near the library. The first name might be Louis or possibly Charles.
William Tyrell

EDITOR'S REPLY: We talked to Barbara Rimkunas at the Exeter Historical Society. They have a monument to Gilmen Marston in the cemetery. It used to have a soldier on top of a rock, but the statue disappeared long ago. The other Civil war memorial in town is a plaque of names outside the historical society, which is the former town library building. Barbara went out in the rain and looked at the 100 or so names there. The tablet listed a Patrick Sullivan with the 6th Regiment, but no monument and no details. Bell’s history of the town also has no listing for the names you are seeking. Our guess is that you have the wrong Seacoast town, but you can email the historical society at exhissoc@aol.com. Keep us posted.
http://www.seacoastnh.com/history/hs.html

December 16
RAH, RAH ROLLINSFORD!
Great article on the Paul Wentworth house. (As I Please, December 15, 2001) I have seen the house and it is great! The move is the easy part......how to use it and care for it and integrate it into Rollinsford town culture once again is the tough work. Hope it happens! Thanks for the story.
Peter Lamb
http://www.seacoastnh.com/arts/please121501.html

December 16
CLICK THE GARDNER HOUSE FOR MORE
Hi,my name is KIM WEAKLEY my maiden name is DULL. I'm a descendant of the GARDNER family, ISSAC,ANDREW, SAMUEL, THOMAS, and there more. I do have the proof if needed. I have traced my family a long way back. I'm looking for more information if you can give it to me. THANK YOU
KIM WEAKLEY
http://www.seacoastnh.com/brewster/65.html
http://www.seacoastnh.com/wentworth/index.html

December 16
FIVE YEARS OF SEACOASTNH.com
Congratulations on five years of offering the SeacoastNH newsletter and free at that! I love it and I am sure there are many others around the Country who look forward to it as I do. Whatever you do, don't give up your sense of humor and kindly spirit. We need people like you. Have a blessed Christmas and peaceful 2002.
Joan Johnson in Minnesota (where it's warm and not snowing)
http://www.seacoastnh.com/talk.html

December 13
CHATTING WITH BETTY HILL
Hi- I wrote to 'betty hill' in 1986 after reading an article about her in the local newspaper about what she was doing 25 years after the ufo incident. I wrote to her again in 1996 also. Both times she corresponded with me, which I thought was very nice of her. I was wondering if there is a way to get word to her by e-mail? I was very intrigued by the story of the mayan people that i read about here, by the way. I had never heard of their belief of originating from another planet. In 1972, my father saw a cigar shaped object low in the sky while passing over our local bridge. There were scores of people stopped on the bridge that were viewing it also. He told me that it resembled a grey rock, and was close enough that he could see what looked like portholes along the center of it, with small 'protrusions' on the bottom. It was traveling very slowly the whole time he viewed it with the other bridge-goers. The newspaper the following morning said that the object had been a meteorite! I think people were fairly upset about the verdict. thanks,
scott

EDITOR’S REPLY: Sorry, as space-aged as Betty may be, we’ve not been able to get her online. Now in her 80s, she still corresponds when people write. She reads our history columns in the newspaper, but not on the web, and says she has so many correspondents now that the thought of responding to email is too much of a good thing.
http://seacoastnh.com/arts/please020299.html

December 13
IN SEARCH OF THE WENTWORTH
As a soon to be graduate of the Hotel School at Cornell - and an avid fan of Portsmouth, I'm very curious about the developments out at the Wentworth Hotel. I search and search for recent information, but always to no avail. Do you happen to have any answers for me?
Reg Briggs in Ithaca, New York

EDITOR’S REPLY: We’ve been checking the online reports from the two local newspapers and adding them to our update. Using both newspaper search engines, we’ve been unable to find an online article on the hotel since summer 2001. Reports are that the hotel construction has begun at last and Ocean Properties is predicting an opening date for the restored hotel as Spring 2003. Whenever we learn anything, we add it to our site in the NEWS section at the top of the page.
http://seacoastnh.com/wentbysea/

December 13
KINDERWORKS MAKES HAPPY TODDLER
Hi, Just wanted to let you know that my prize has arrived. All I can say is WOW + Thank You ! You are going to make one 18 month old + friends , very ,very happy this Christmas. It's a great prize, thanks so much. Merry Christmas !
Jane in FLORIDA
http://www.seacoastnh.com/contests/index.html

December 12
DEFENDING THE FOUNDERS
I find the comments about the Pilgrims to be prejudiced (“Outgrowing the Pilgrims”). Of course some of the faults of England were brought with them but they seemed a lot more tolerant than Massachusetts Bay. How do you know there were no Indians? I suggest you are rewriting history based on opinions contrary to those you dislike. The truth is out there somewhere; they were just plain people produced by their time and extremely brave. And steadfast.

Read more history. Especially about those who were whipped and banned for their convictions. You have stereotyped all. I admit that some of the best went on to establish Rhode Island. But they had to start somewhere and I think Plymouth Rock is big enough but found other rocks on the beach to be even more significant in their natural surroundings instead of commercialized! Thank you from a descendant of the Brewsters, Roger Williams, and many others who came later with less recognition.
Donald L. Cady

EDITOR’S REPLY: We’ve been insulting the Pilgrims for years, and finally someone is fighting back! We are certainly rewriting history based on biased opinions. But the history we are rewriting is also biased and based on opinions of its own. Our goal is to get a discussion going, to raise a little danger, to get people riled up about their past. Our beef is not with our ancestors (since your editor may also be directly descended from that stalwart group), but with the often biased, sometimes inaccurate, overly reverent way our history has been taught and told in the past. It’s no wonder kids find the topic dull, irrelevant and confusing. It would be so easy to foster a love of history in our school children, but so often the demands of standardized testing, costly and ponderous textbooks and rigid curricula overshadow the only important truth – that history is the accumulation of stories about real people. Students who miss this point are doomed to parroting answers to the same old quiz questions. Yes, more reading by all means, more questions, more debate. History is only dead when we allow it just lie there. When we teach our kids that they are as much a part of history as the Pilgrims, then we empower them to action. That requires, not seeing our accidental founders as dieties, but more as companions and partners and traveling companions -- very human, very real. That mindset makes it possible, we believe, to not only participate in history, but to change it. That's our goal here.
http://www.seacoastnh.com/arts/please112197.html

December 10
ONE DOWN, 100 BILLION TO GO
hi i just visited your site for the 1st time -- definitely not the last just been browsing for a few minutes but i know i'll be back i found you thru a link in weatherlook.com which i got from the article in today's 12-9 fosters newspaper. just wanted you to know that i like it and will be signing for your newsletter keep up the work
EAGLEDOVER
http://www.seacoastnh.com/weather/index.html

December 08
SORRY, CHRISTA
The link for Christa McAuliffe on “Link Free or Die” has a typo in the first name. You're doing quite well. I found a typo on the White House web page tonight, and they have a LOT more folks to edit and proofread their stuff (unless you count the visitors, then SeacoastNH has the government beat hands down :^)
Robert G of Perkasie, PA

EDITOR’S REPLY: Yes, that little typo has engendered a lot of mail. We may just keep it there so people will keep writing to us. We think there is a typo in the White House too, but maybe we can fix it in 2004.
http://www.seacoastsearch.com/nhlinks/people/index.html

December 08
PICTURING JONES
I am doing a project on John Paul Jones.I need information on where you got the pictures from. Thank you for your help!
Felicia

EDITOR’S REPLY: This would be a great project for an intern to be sure. We assembled these images from many sources five years ago and should have kept better records of where each early image came from and included it on the page for researchers. But we didn’t, and it’s just too much work right now to go backwards. The images are in the public domain, but the scans are copyrighted to our web site, so use of them requires permission from us. Lots and lots of students use them for reports, and we’re glad for that. Maybe someday we’ll get that research done, but for now – sorry!
http://seacoastnh.com/jpj/portraits.html

December 08
TOWING A SUB
I worked for dan's of dover when the albacore was dragged by our wrecker and was wondering if you had any pictures of this happening. if you do could you please e-mail them to me?
thanks jeff

EDITOR’S REPLY: The best collection of photos is in the detailed book USS Albacore: Forerunner of the Future, available from Peter E. Randall Publishers. Our copyrighted images are used online by permission of the publisher and are not “sendable”.
http://www.perpublisher.com/pms25.html
http://www.seacoastnh.com/navyyard/ussalbacore1.html

December 06
NOT KEEPING UP WITH JONES
I really enjoyed visiting your site, and especially the "Link Free or Die" area, but I couldn't help but noticing a staple of Portsmouth missing! Frank Jones. It would be great to see some info on him! Thank You!
-- Chad

EDITOR'S REPLY: Frank Jones is among the 100 NH characters we've lined up for this site, eventually, but he hasn't made it to the list for two reasons so far: (1) he's not quite famous enough outside Portsmouth and this is our state-wide history section, and (2) Link Free or Die selections are made based on the person's fame ONLINE. And so far, Frank is pretty much a cipher on the web. We just searched on Google and the top two references to Frank Jones were from SeacoastNH.com! We did, however, find another good link and that is also attached below.
http://www.seacoastnh.com/wentbysea/frankjones.html
http://www.seacoastnh.com/poems/jonessong.html
http://www.seacoastsearch.com/nhlinks/people/index.html
http://www.beerhistory.com/library/holdings/frankjones.shtml

December 04
FUNNY-SHAPED BREAD COMPLAINT DEPT:
I was viewing Seacoast NH for the first time when I clicked on "Dining" from there I clicked on "Bakery & Deli" as I was viewing the different bakeries I clicked on one of the bakeries (name withheld) and an adult porno site came up!! Please look into this. I'm concerned about clicking on other sites you may be linked to.
MK Sullivan

EDITOR’S REPLY: Actually that link would have been on our search engine, SeacoastSearch.com, and we found the problem and corrected it, although the problem was outside our site. Here’s how it works: We provide free links to every local site we know of. Sometimes the owner of that that site fails or forgets to renew the site domain license. Then that domain URL or web address is purchased by someone else, much the way your phone number is recycled to another user if you don’t pay your bill. It appears, in this case and in others we’ve discovered, that our link to the bakery stayed the same, but the owner changed. The new owner, apparently, elected to go into an X-rated business instead of the baking business. It is, after all, America. We can detect dead links, though we are usually too lazy to run the program. But if a link remains active, we have no means of telling what it is linked to unless an upstanding reader tells us, or we bump into it by accident. So neither we nor the bakery had anything to do with what happened, but we made the correction by deleting the link within 120 seconds of receiving you email. Yes, we probably should check all our links (about 3,000 on SeacoastNH and 2,100 on SeacoastSearch.com) on an annual basis. But lacking a staff, we’re more likely to rely on the kindness of strangers. Thanks. (PS. To make it even more confusing, there really ARE adult bakeries that specialize in creating products baked in the shape of unmentionable anatomical appendages, That coincidence seems enormously funny to us at this moment, but then – it’s been a long day.)

December 04
IS THERE REALLY AN EATON FALLS, VIRGINIA?
Hello, i was wondering what history behind Eaton falls is, Is that a real place? See my Eaton family were on the Mayflower and many of them went to New Hampshire, so i was just wondering if there was an connection. Well please email me back and let me know if you have any information. Thanks for your time.
Steve Metcalf

EDITOR'S REPLY: Sorry Steve, Eaton Falls is a fictional name for Dover, NH where the film Whistle at Eaton Falls was largely filmed.
http://seacoastnh.com/louis/whistle.html

December 04
FAR AWAY: READER POEM
What's far,
Can't be near,
So what I see must not be here.
To travel the distance is long, but exciting.
Come along with me on this journey.
To see what's in the future, that’s not in the present.
Just wait and see,
We'll have fun
Join the adventure
I promise
You won't regret it!

Submitted by
Kira St. Hilaire of Newton, NH

December 04
THE TRUTH ABOUT PRINCE
I am studying the people portrayed by Emanuel Leutze in his1851 painting, "Washington Crossing the Delaware." The African American in the boat has been identified as Prince Whipple, a slave owned by William Whipple of New Hampshire who signed the Declaration of Independence for that state.

I would like to ascertain the truth, or lack of it, of the following information taken from the Internet: "Prince" was born in Africa, son of a tribal chieftain or king, and was sent to either England or America for an education. Purportedly, he was taken into slavery on the high seas, sold in America to Whipple, and eventually became an aide to George Washington. After the Revolution he was given his freedom.

Any assistance you can give will be appreciated. I would be happy to come to your library to use your reference materials if your collection has any information pertinent to the topic. I am looking for original sources, if available.
Elizabeth K, Metropolitan Museum of Art

EDITOR'S REPLY: We've not done the primary document research, but relived on pre-existing research. The info in the Prince Whipple section comes, in part, from the documents we received at the Metropolitan Museum itself. The rest comes from Charles Brewster, a not wholly reliable local source. To that end we count on local historian Valerie Cunningham. Her information on Prince is available in the NH Black History Trail Resource Book, available at the link below. We're not certain this question can be resolved, and there are other contenders for the black figure in the painting. Our approach is tell what is best available from local research and to offer readers the chance to respond. Our web page still has some inconsistencies based on differing reports, so it is to be taken with a grain of salt. If you track down the final details, we hope you'll let us know too so we can adapt our sit to fit the latest research. Doing that research, however, is beyond our abilities.
http://seacoastnh.com/blackhistory/pbht.html
http://seacoastnh.com/blackhistory/prince.html
http://www.seacoastnh.com/brewster/28.html
http://www.seacoastnh.com/blackhistory/trail12.html

December 04
DAN WEBSTER'S HOUSES
I am looking for brochures of the homes of Daniel Webster. What sites should I go to online, and find an address to email for a brochure?
Daniel

EDITOR'S REPLY: The birthplace in Franklin, NH is a state historic site, so there must be a brochure of that. You can find that link, phone and address by going to LinkFreeofDie (first link below) and clicking down on the "Historic Sites" section of our Daniel Webster links page. None of the houses in Portsmouth that survive are open to the public. Even the Webster House at Strawbery Banke is for "exterior viewing only."
http://www.seacoastsearch.com/nhlinks/people/index.html
http://www.seacoastnh.com/lawyers/websterhouse.html
http://www.strawberybanke.org/museum/dwebster/dwebster.html

December 04
LIFE OUTSIDE THE INTERNET? NOT POSSIBLE!
I just got around to reading your November newsletter! Sorry! :( We moved our office this month and I'm still trying to catch up!! As usual, I found an hour or so of interesting diversion from the norm in your newsletter! Lately it feels as if I'm living vicariously through my Internet connection. Maybe you can identify? :)
Mike Doran, Random Orbits

December 04
MORE ON ISAAC ROYAL, POWDER MONKEY
RE: Jim Moore's query about Isaac Royal (Sr.), powder monkey and cabin boy to John Paul Jones (see READ OUR MAIL ARCHIVES: October 22, 2001 - scroll down)

I, too, am a descendant of Isaac Royal and his service with John Paul Jones is documented by the DAR. After his war service, Isaac established himself on a farm in East Dover, ME, which still exists but is privately owned. However, the DAR has added a prominent marker to the outside. Isaac and one of his daughters, Dorcas, who died in 1814, are buried on the farm, at his insistence. The DAR may have more information as to the exact ship on which he served, but since Isaac was born in 1765 and his service is verified, it's likely that he performed a boy's job, such as powder monkey/cabin boy. Incidentally, the powder monkeys were responsible for loading the ships' guns, presumably because they were small, agile and expendable. So more of those "cabin boy" claims may be true than we might believe. Hope that helps!
Elizabeth Crosby Simpson of Greenville, SC
http://www.seacoastnh.com/mail/mail1001.html

December 04
STRATHAM HISTORICAL ONLINE
Hi my name is Brian Levin I designed a web site for the Stratham Historical Society and would appreciate it if you would link to the site. The address is www.strathamhistoricalsociety.org . If you have any questions please feel free to contact me.
Brian Levin

EDITOR'S REPLY: According to the site this was an Eagle Scout project. Great work! We're thrilled to see each new, er old, historical society come online. We've got a links page just for them (see below) and will enter you into SeacoastSearch.com as well. Connecting all Seacoast town historians is a longstanding goal of SeacoastNH.com. So far, while each town in the region has a society, few are online. But where the heck is the link back to SeacoastNH.com, #1 history site in NH? We help where we can, including a free photo tour of the facility when we get steal the time - as with the recent Newmarket tour below. Welcome aboard.
http://www.seacoastnh.com/history/hs.html
http://www.seacoastnh.com/dct/newmarket.html

December 03
HOW MUCH IS AMERICA WORTH?
dear respected sir! i have copies of the us constitution, declaration of independence and bill of rights! they are very fragil and over 100 years old! are they of any value??? can you help?? call me anytime at (phone number withinheld) with much respect!
danny ray goins

EDITOR’S REPLY: These document are of great value, but mostly when read and not sold. They sound like reprinted items from the USA 1876 centennial or later, and are likely of minor interest except to specialized collectors. You might check Ebay.com to see what similar items are selling for, and there are a number of ephemera and history document shops that might make you an offer. (Try Paperboy online or the History Store in Wells, Maine.) But in our limited experience, reproduction items made in massive quantities are very common. They may look especially old because they are copies of older documents. The fragility is often due to cheap paper pulp while the originals were pretty sturdy. If you, by chance, have an original document from the late 1700s -- that would be worth a mint.

December 02
WHERE'S THE CONTEST?
What happened to the contest? September contest is still showing. I hope you will continue to have them they are fun and interesting. Thanks for your time and I enjoy your site, but miss the contest.
Diane D of Raymond, NH

EDITOR'S REPLY: We touched on this in last month's newsletter, but here's a recap. The Contest is fine, and has been coming up for 60 straight months, amazingly, with tens of thousands of entrants. The problem likely occurs in your computer cache. After going to tshe Contest page below, press RESTORE or RELOAD or REPOST or whatever your browser says. The page you are seeing is likely the backup copy in your computer memory which should be cleaned out regularly. Some browsers go first to the cache and show an old images that must be replaced.
http://www.seacoastnh.com/contests/index.html

December 01
NAME THAT RESTAURANT IN ONE WORD
I overheard someone talking about a great restaurant in Portsmouth. It was something on the idea of Thai or maybe Japanese. They raved about the food and décor. I want to say it was just a one word name to the restaurant. Any idea what it may be?
Mimi Ryan

EDITOR’S REPLY: Our guess is Sakura, the Japanese restaurant in the former old post office building at the corner of Pleasant and State streets just down from Market Square. We’re there a lot and the eatery has a great reputation. Second guess is Thai Paradies just down Bridge Street. Portsmouth also has Chiangmai Thai Restaurant and Sake Restaurant on Congress Street.
http://www.seacoastnh.com/dining

December 01
GUIDING LIGHTS
Do you have available for mailing any brochures or address (street/P.O. box) for groups in connection with those lighthouses in your part of New England?
charles r. foxx, jr

EDITOR’S REPLY: You might start with the American Lighthouse Foundation in Wells, ME. You’ll find them and any others we come up with under “lighthouse” (type that into the search box) on SeacoastSearch.com, along with Lighthouse Depot and Lighthouse Magazine. Also check out PortsmouthForts.com, and stay tuned for our upcoming scoop article on White Island lighthouse. And search for the Wood Island Light Preservation Group created to preserve the local lifesaving station, now abandoned.
http://www.seacoastsearch.com