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Seacoast region offers a view into state's past at historic homes and sites

New Hampshire > Seacoast > Indoor Activities > Historic Homes and Sites
Wentworth Coolidge Mansion state historic site
Wentworth-Coolidge Mansion State Historic Site

375 Little Harbor Road Portsmouth, NH Phone: 603-436-6607

This large house was the residence of New Hampshire's first royal governor, Benning Wentworth, who served in office from 1741 to 1767. The 40-room mansion is a superb example of homes from Colonial times. It is typical of the aristocratic life in Portsmouth in the 1700s.
Season: daily from late June to Labor Day; Saturdays and Sundays from late May to mid-June and from Labor Day to mid-October
Hours: 10 a.m.-4 p.m.
Information: http://bit.ly/kEXRPQ
Strawbery Banke Museum on Hancock Street in Portsmouth
Strawbery Banke Museum

14 Hancock Street Portsmouth, NH Phone: 603-433-1100

Strawbery Banke Museum, adjacent to the city’s riverside Prescott Park, is a 10-acre outdoor history museum that preserves 32 domestic and commercial buildings that were lived in and used on this land during 300 years of the town’s history. People of all ages may explore eight gardens, buildings, traditional crafts, and preservation programs. Stories of the neighborhood are told by costumed role-players. Lots of educational and seasonal special events, year-round. A visit of 2 hours is recommended. Open year-round, but only on weekends, for guided tours, November to April. Information: http://www.strawberybanke.org/
Woodman Institute Museum

182 Central Avenue Dover, NH, 03820 Phone: 603-742-1038

This four-building complex includes the Woodman House (1818), former home to lawyer Daniel Christie; Hale House (1813), home of U.S.Senator John Parker Hale; Keefe House (1827) and the William Damm Garrison home (1675). Collections of natural science to include the largest mineral exhibit north of Boston, items of local history from the 1600s to present, and a fine collection of paintings and early furniture. Cost: There is an admission charge.
Hours: April-November, Wednesday-Sunday, 12:30-4:30 p.m.
Admission: Adults, $8; students and seniors age 65 and older, $6; children age 6-15, $3.
Information: woodmaninstitutemuseum.org.
John Paul Jones House and Museum

43 Middle Street Portsmouth, NH Phone: 603-436-8420

This National Historic Landmark was built in 1758, and was home for a time during the Revolutionary War to national hero John Paul Jones while he supervised the building of the Navy’s ship America. Visitors will enjoy the collections of 18th and 19th century clothing, guns, furnishings and china.
Hours: Memorial Day - October 31, daily, 11 a.m.-5 p.m.
Admission: $6; children under age 12, free
Information: www.portsmouthhistory.org/john_paul_jones_house/
Warner House

150 Daniel Street Portsmouth, NH Phone: 603-436-5909

This brick Georgian mansion was built in 1716 for Archibald McPhaedris, a sea captain. Inside, visitors will find 18th-century household items and furnishings, including wall murals that are among the oldest in the United States.
Season: Mid-​June through mid-​October.
Hours: Wednes­day-Mon­day; noon-4 p.m.
Admission: Adults, $5; seniors and students, $4; chil­dren age 7-12, $2.50.
Information: www.warnerhouse.org
Jackson House

76 Northwest Street Portsmouth, NH Phone: 603-436-3205

Jackson House is the oldest surviving house in New Hampshire and Maine. It was built by Richard Jackson, a woodworker, farmer, and mariner, when timber from the region’s abundant forests formed the basis of the economy. To highlight its interesting construction methods, the house is shown unfurnished.
Hours: June 1 – October 15, first and third Saturdays, 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Tours on the hour. Closed July 4.
Admission: Adults, $6; seniors, $5; students, $3.
Information: http://bit.ly/ZxMeRE
Point of Graves Burial Ground

Peirce Island Road and Mechanic Street Portsmouth, NH Phone:

Point of Graves Burial Ground is a historic cemetery dating to 1671. It is the burial place of many prominent figures in Portsmouth's history. The oldest readable gravestone is dated to 1684. This old graveyard is the source and setting of many strange tales.
Information: http://seacoastnh.com/dead/graves.html
Fort Stark Historic Site

Off Wild Rose Lane New Castle, NH Phone: 603-436-1552

This fort was first put into use in 1746, and remained active through World War II. Visitors can tour the information center and the fort, which give a sense of how forts have changed over the centuries.
Governor John Langdon Mansion

143 Pleasant Street Portsmouth, NH Phone: 603-436-3205

From the vast central hall to the reception rooms, everything in this mansion was designed to reflect Langdon’s status as the town’s leading citizen. Langdon became a sea captain, merchant, shipbuilder, Revolutionary leader, signer of the United States Constitution, and three-term governor of New Hampshire. There is a large garden with perennial beds, rose and grape arbor, and pavilion.
Hours: June 1-October 15, Friday-Sunday. Tours on the hour, 11 a.m.-4 p.m.
Admission: Adults, $6; seniors, $5; students and children, $3.
American Independence Museum

1 Governor's Lane Exeter, NH, 03833 Phone: 603-772-2262

Housed in the Ladd-Gilman House, built in the first decades of the 18th century. During the American Revolution, this building stored the state's treasury. Among the museum’s permanent collection of documents chronicling the nation’s founding are an original Dunlap Broadside of the Declaration of Independence and early drafts of the U.S. Constitution. Permanent collections include American furnishings, ceramics, silver, textiles and military ephemera. Exhibits detail the history of Portsmouth and the structure itself. Hours: Mid-May to October, Wednesday-Saturday, 10 a.m.-4 p.m.
Admission: Adults, $5; students, $3.
Information: www.independencemuseum.org
Fort Constitution Historic Site

Off NH Route 1B at US Coast Guard Station (25 Wentworth Road) New Castle, NH Phone: 603-435-1552

Originally constructed in the 1600's, this site was known as Fort William and Mary. A British stronghold that sat on Portsmouth Harbor, it was captured by colonists in 1774, 2 years before the American Revolution. Only ruins of the fort now remain, and visitors can glean information from the panels located at the site. This site is a National Historic Landmark.
Hours: Open year-round for recreation.
Information: http://bit.ly/13h4Itq
Albacore Park

600 Market Street Portsmouth, NH, 03801 Phone: 603-436-3680

The focal point of this park is an exhibit of life on a modern submarine. Visitors will tour the sub and view all its compartments.
Hours: Memorial Day to Columbus Day, daily, 9:30 a.m.-5 p.m.; Columbus Day to Memorial Day, Thursday through Monday, 9:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Call ahead for seasonal changes.
Cost: Adults, $5; children age 7-17, $3; Military, $4; family, $10.
Information: www.ussalbacore.org/
Moffatt-Ladd House and Gardens

154 Market Street Portsmouth, NH Phone: 603-436-8221

This Georgian mansion was the home of General Whipple. The building was constructed in 1763, and it has an authentic underground passage. A classic garden, designed in the 19th century, has a 300-foot axis path flanked by formal gardens that lead from the house up several terraces to an iron gate at the rear edge of the property, and many lovely flower beds.
Season: Early June to late October.
Hours: Monday-Saturday, 11 a.m.-5 p.m.; Sunday, 1-5 p.m.
Admission: Adults, $6; children, $2.50; garden only, $2.
Information: www.moffattladd.org/
Rundlet - May House

364 Middle Street Portsmouth, NH Phone: 603-436-3205

Merchant James Rundlet furnished his mansion with fine Portsmouth-made furniture and imported wallpapers, and installed the latest technology for cooking and heating. The beautiful gardens behind the house, with roses, peonies, pet cemetery, and orchard, still follow Rundlet’s original layout.
Hours: June 1-October 15, first and third Saturdays, 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Tours on the hour. Closed July 4
Admission: Adults, $6; seniors, $5; students, $3
Information: http://bit.ly/1109fyW