Home > Blogs > Ann Cummings > Portsmouth NH Real Estate and Homes | Your Coastal New Hampshire & Southern Maine Homes Resource

Portsmouth NH ~ 375 Years of Living History ~ Strawbery Banke Museum

By Ann Cummings

Real Estate Agent with RE/MAX Shoreline - NH and Maine NH and Maine Broker

September 17, 2007 01:42 PM

Strawbery Banke Houses - Portsmouth NH - Ann Cummings Copyright 2007

If you're a history buff, then Portsmouth New Hampshire is the place for you! Portsmouth was settled in 1623, and history abounds everywhere here. We have numerous historical homes open to the public for tours, as well as museums, galleries, and privately-owned historical homes all over town.

One of our special places for those who love history is Strawbery Banke, in the north end of Portsmouth, just off the downtown area along the shore of the Piscataqua River. Strawbery Banke got its name from the English explorers who settled here in 1630 because of the abundance of wild strawberries growing all over the place. This settlement became the beginnings of one of the country's earliest cities. And yes, it really is spelled ‘Strawbery' and 'Banke' - this spelling goes back to the Colonial days.

Read more »

Give me a call if you're in the market for Portsmouth NH real estate - I'd love to help you out with your home search!!

If you're interested in Portsmouth NH Real Estate, be sure to check out these links for homes and condos for sale in Portsmouth and the surrounding areas:

Portsmouth New Hampshire Homes
Seacoast New Hampshire and Maine Real Estate
Information on New Hampshire and Maine Seacoast Towns
Buying New Hampshire and Maine Real Estate
Selling Real Estate in New Hampshire and Southern Maine

Ann Cummings
RE/MAX Coast to Coast
Portsmouth NH
888-349-5678 x 3839
Servicing the Coastal Areas of NH & Southern Maine

Comments(31)

Comment

Show All Comments

Sort:

Jolynne Photography, Creative Wedding Photography, Family Portraits, Bar Mitzvahs

Jolynne Photography - Hemet, CA

Bat Mitzvahs, Senior Pictures, Event Photography

Ann, what a great, detailed post. In all my travels I've never been to New Hampshire. When my family is on the other side of the States, I know who to call for a 'things to do' list! Thanks.

Sep 18, 2007 06:16 AM

Ann Cummings

RE/MAX Shoreline - NH and Maine - Portsmouth, NH

Portsmouth NH Real Estate Preferrable Agent

Hi Joey - well, since you've never been here, you know I'm going to suggest that you must take a trip here! New England is gorgeous and New Hampshire is just really wonderful, especially here along the coast where I live. If you do get this way, make sure to let me know!

Thanks for reading and for commenting - much appreciated!
Ann

Sep 18, 2007 07:15 AM

Diane Velikis

Coldwell & Banker Busch Real Estate - Luzerne, PA

Luzerne County Real Estate

Ann, I absolutely love your local posts! You do such a wonderful job :)

Sep 18, 2007 10:38 AM

Ann Cummings

RE/MAX Shoreline - NH and Maine - Portsmouth, NH

Portsmouth NH Real Estate Preferrable Agent

Hi Diane - thank you so much, and I really appreciate your feedback! When I do my local posts, I look at it and make sure it's something that would interest me, and if it isn't, it doesn't get published. I'm glad you enjoy them - I enjoy writing them, too!

Ann

Sep 18, 2007 11:31 AM

Neal Bloom

Brokered by eXp Realty LLC - Weston, FL

Realtor CRS-Weston FL Real Estate

Ann,

Nice old fashion architecture...great localism post as usual.

Sep 18, 2007 01:38 PM

Rita Taylor

None - Sanford, NC

Sanford NC Real Estate - Homes for Sale in Sanford North Carolina

Ann,

Beautiful post about the Portsmouth area! Strawbery Banke has a lot of history - 375 years that is impressive. I love old historical homes and I bet the ones at this site are wonderful to tour.

Sep 18, 2007 02:48 PM

Ann Cummings

RE/MAX Shoreline - NH and Maine - Portsmouth, NH

Portsmouth NH Real Estate Preferrable Agent

Hey Neal - these old homes are really wonderful to see in person. It's interesting to imagine living as people did back then- much smaller rooms in most of them, smaller doorways, lower ceilings, etc. Thanks for the comment!

Hi Rita - thanks!! We have a lot of really old towns in this part of the country and the historic areas are really fun to tour. If you love historic homes, you'd really enjoy this outdoor living museum - I wandered through it again the other day when I took these pictures and it was really relaxing and very enjoyable.

Many thanks for reading and for your comments!
Ann

Sep 19, 2007 12:03 PM

Maggie Dokic /Indialantic | 321-252-8696

Magdalena Dokic - Indialantic, FL

Selling the beach in Florida's space coast

Ann, what a beautiful post. I loved reading the history. You're so thorough in everything you do. You put others to shame (like me LOL)

Sep 19, 2007 01:30 PM

Ann Cummings

RE/MAX Shoreline - NH and Maine - Portsmouth, NH

Portsmouth NH Real Estate Preferrable Agent

Hi Maggie - you make my smile with your comment! I love doing the posts on my area - there's just so much here to write about, I don't think I'll ever run out of things to tell people about. I love living here and I hope that comes across in my posts! This really is a very special place to call home, especially for those who love history like the museum in this post.

Thanks for reading and commenting - much appreciated Maggie!!
Ann

Sep 20, 2007 11:26 AM

Gary White~Grand Rapids Home Selling Pro Call: 616-821-9375

Flexit Realty "Flexible Home Selling Solutions" - Grand Rapids, MI

Real Estate Services You can Trust!

Ann, what a great update and historical tour....you make a bit of history with every sale you make in a town like this. Very nice post.

Sep 20, 2007 01:30 PM

Ann Cummings

RE/MAX Shoreline - NH and Maine - Portsmouth, NH

Portsmouth NH Real Estate Preferrable Agent

Hi Gary - what a nice comment you left me. Thank you for that! And thank you for reading - I'm glad you enjoyed this post.

Ann

Sep 20, 2007 02:00 PM

Robert Hammerstein -

Christie's International Real Estate - Hillsdale, NJ

Bergen County NJ Real Estate

Hi Ann,

We're so envious of you living in that great place and want so badly to come visit again. What is the leaf schedule? Maybe we can break away for 3 days to see the leaves change in your area. I would love that! What a beautiful depiction of your area.

Sep 21, 2007 01:40 AM

Karen Kruschka

RE/MAX Executives - Woodbridge, VA

- "My Experience Isn't Expensive - It's PRICELESS"

Ann, We are both fortunate in that we live in an area so rich in history. Whenever we travel in the "Original Thirteen" I love to tour historic homes which my husband refers to as "old houses". Actually, I am slowly but surely building a post about Northern Virginia historic sites and combining it with newer attractions as a mix. Karen

Sep 21, 2007 02:06 AM

Diane Aurit

LKN Realty, LLC - Mooresville, NC

Lake Norman Real Estate

This is simply a wonderful localism post. Beautifully designed and easy to read! Great job.

Sep 21, 2007 11:23 AM

Ann Cummings

RE/MAX Shoreline - NH and Maine - Portsmouth, NH

Portsmouth NH Real Estate Preferrable Agent

Hi Lisa - well then come on back up here! We have some leaves changing now, but it's usually Columbus Day weekend when you'll see the most color. I took some pictures earlier today of the reds of the sugar maples in a few places. This is a beautiful area, that's for sure. If you do come up this way, let me know as I'd love to meet up with you at some point.

Hi Karen - your area has loads of history, too, and you should do some posts on all that. I'll keep an eye out for that post of yours! If you take another trip up to the 'original thirteen' let me know!

Hi Diane - thank you so much for those really nice comments! I very much appreciate them!

Many thanks for reading this post and for your wonderful comments!
Ann

Sep 21, 2007 12:27 PM

Paula Henry

Home to Indy Team @ HomeSmart Realty Group - Avon, IN

Realtor - Indianapolis Real Estate - 317-605-4174

Ann - I love the history of the first settled cities, states and towns. I bet there is so much there. I would love the tour of these homes and the gardens. The replications are nice but not the original!

Sep 21, 2007 01:07 PM

Jay Beckingham

Christensen Financial Mortgage - Port St Lucie, FL

Seniors ROCK!

just a wonderful place.

i think some of those doorways may still have remnants of my forehead.

Sep 22, 2007 05:49 AM

Ann Cummings

RE/MAX Shoreline - NH and Maine - Portsmouth, NH

Portsmouth NH Real Estate Preferrable Agent

Hi Paula - you know, it's funny, I really greatly disliked history growing up, and now that I live in a place so full of history, I really enjoy it and love finding out even more about my area and all that made it be what it is today. If you ever do make it here for a visit, we'll do this tour of this outdoor museum and then go have us that lobster dinner you'd love...... ;-)

Hi Jay - wonderful indeed! Those doorways really are short and not too wide either. People were certainly a different size than we are today, that's for sure.

Thanks for the comments!
Ann

Sep 22, 2007 09:41 AM

Patsy Ittner, Your Premier Broker Selling St. Augustine Real Estate

Little Fox Realty - Saint Augustine, FL

I know I mentioned this before, but Strawbery Banke Museum was so much fun. We enjoyed every minute of it. I remember trying to get one of the actors to break from her acting and answer a timely question for me, and she was so cool. She wouldn't do it. In fact, she made a joke out of what I was asking, though I don't remember what it was. They take their jobs very seriously. It was really great fun.

Oct 01, 2007 02:01 PM

Ann Cummings

RE/MAX Shoreline - NH and Maine - Portsmouth, NH

Portsmouth NH Real Estate Preferrable Agent

Hi Patsy - you're right about the actors there in period clothing. The lady in one of my pictures stayed right in her character every time I asked her a question. At first, I didn't realize what she was doing. I just thought she was a little old-fashioned Yankee, and then it dawned on me after the 2nd or 3rd time I talked to her.

Strawbery Banke Museum is a fascinating living museum - timeless, educational and fun!

Ann

Oct 02, 2007 12:55 PM

Older Post

Newer Post

Rainmaker
344,760

Ann Cummings

Portsmouth NH Real Estate Preferrable Agent

Follow Profile

Blog

(603) 436-1221

Service Areas

Real Estate Resources

Portsmouth NH & Seacoast Areas of NH and Maine - great real estate and local area information. Homes, condos, real estate for Maine and New Hampshire

View Weather for Portsmouth, NH

Comments(31)

Ann Cummings

Service Areas

Real Estate Resources

Additional Information