😲 Look! Real people, out and about! So glad to be getting back into the swing of things!


History, Arts, and Culture Are Open for the Season!

We are back for 2021! We’ve got some AMAZING exhibitions, a wonderful gift shop, and our friendly staff and volunteers can’t wait to see you! We’re still being careful―everybody’s masked and keeping a safe distance―but we’re ready to welcome you once again to Portsmouth Historical Society!

Discover Portsmouth Welcome Center Open now, 7 days/week, 10am-5pm

Historical Walking Tours begin May 1

John Paul Jones House opens May 28


Our Gratitude to the Wyeth Foundation for American Art

Portsmouth Historical Society is pleased to announce the award of a $15,000 grant in support of our upcoming 2022 exhibition, Imagine That! The Power of Picture Books, featuring the work of more than twenty nationally-recognized author illustrators from Maine, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts. With this exhibition, the Society aims to reassess the region’s heritage of illustration with fresh eyes and advance public understanding of the potential of picture books to connect and inspire us.

The primary mission of the Wyeth Foundation for American Art is to encourage the study, appreciation, and recognition of excellence in American art. The Foundation supports selected programs of scholarship, research, conservation, and exhibitions with institutions and other non-profit organizations that are consistent with this mission.


Call for Volunteers!

Portsmouth Historical Society wants YOU!

We’re looking for volunteers to help out a few hours a week. Know everything about downtown Portsmouth? Come lend a hand in the Welcome Center! Want to spend an afternoon in thoughtful discussion about historical and contemporary art? You can be a gallery docent!

If you’re interested, please email Jess Kliskey, our volunteer coordinator at Jessica@portsmouthhistory.org, or click here to fill out a quick online form.

We’re a fun bunch to work with!


Keepin’ it Classy in the Museum Shop

Frederick A. Bosley, The Family, 1930.  Oil on canvas; 41 x 48 in. Private collection. Photo, courtesy of Jeremy Fogg, Anthony Moore Painting Conservation.

The Museum Shop has beautiful note cards featuring the art of Alice Ruggles Sohier and Frederick A. Bosley. Perfect for that classy thank you card or that letter you’ve been meaning to write to your mother (she loves snail mail so much more than email). Online or in person!


History. Arts. Culture.