Four centuries of architecture crowd the Portsmouth Downtown Historic District, the historic urban core of New Hampshire's principal seaport. Here the town's history unfolds: first settled in 1630 and formally incorporated in 1653, it grew into New Hampshire's principal seaport and the center of its economy for many decades. The architecture around you reflects nearly four centuries of history, recalling an early economy once dominated by the lumber trade and the town’s position on a short seacoast.
The district is roughly L-shaped, radiating from the downtown Market Square area to South Street in the south and to Madison and Columbia streets in the west, and contains more than 1,200 historically significant buildings. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2017, and includes thirty-five previous National Register listings and five National Historic Landmarks. Portsmouth sits at the northern end of New Hampshire's short seacoast, bounded on the north by the Piscataqua River and on the east by New Castle, while this downtown core is roughly bounded on the north and south by mill ponds.
Notice the streets and buildings that trace nearly four centuries between the mill ponds.