SeacoastNH.com Presents 
Historic Portsmouth #460  

The "newbies" who have recently moved to Portsmouth for its trim sidewalks, renovated homes, and lush gardens have no clue how recently this was a hardscrabble port city. Back in the day, instead of snappy sailboats and pleasure craft, the South End waterfront docks were less than family friendly. (Continued below)

Instead of a performances like "Annie" and top name musicians, visitors saw crumbling warehouses, dilapidated wharves, and derelict boats. As far back as the mid-1800s mothers warned their children to stay away from the wharves on Puddle Dock. The transformation of Water Street from a colonial world trade center to desolate docks and coal pockets to gardens and parks mirrors the shifting seacoast economy over hundreds of years.  (Courtesy Strawbery Banke Collection) 

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