Pictures of Old Portsmouth

August 12, 2017

Vintage pictures of Portsmouth are a valuable resource. How can you find them? Efforts are being made to have more images available online.

If you enjoyed the photos in John Pierce’s book Historical Tracts of the Town of Portsmouth, you will enjoy viewing the images online. The John T. Pierce, Sr., Historical Collection was put online by the Portsmouth Free Public Library in 2007. Materials for this site were donated to the Library by retired Portsmouth Police Chief Pierce, and the site was funded by a grant from BankNewport. To view the collection, visit http://portsmouthlibrary.wordpress.com/

The Portsmouth Historical Society is beginning to digitize their collection of photos. Wonderful images of Reginald Vanderbilt’s Sandy Point Farm and the Vanderbilt’s Oakland Farm are available through the Portsmouth History Center website: http://portsmouthhistorycenter.org This digital archive is a project funded by the proceeds left from Portsmouth’s 375th celebration. From the home page you have access to the Pierce Collection and the Digital Archives. Photos are not the only resources available. The Digital Archives provides access to documents, diaries, church records, etc. from the collection of the Portsmouth Historical Society.

The Portsmouth Historical Society has a few hundred photos that need to be recorded and photographed so they can be added to an online collection. Volunteers are needed so that these photos can come out of storage and be available online. Many items are starting to fade and we need to digitize them just to preserve them. Check out the Portsmouth Historical Society website, portsmouthhistorical.org to see how you can volunteer.