Strawberry Banke: the town so stubborn, even Washington’s wrecking ball couldn’t bring it down

Portsmouth’s Eight-Year Battle to Save Puddle Dock

In 1957, Portsmouth’s oldest neighborhood faced the wrecking ball. The Housing Authority wanted to tear down Puddle Dock for new apartments.

But local librarian Dorothy Vaughan had other plans. When the 1695 Sherburne House was marked for demolition, she rallied citizens to fight back.

For eight years, they pushed against "urban renewal" that would erase three centuries of history.

Their work paid off in 1965 when, instead of garden apartments, Strawbery Banke Museum opened as America’s first neighborhood museum.

Today, you can walk these saved streets and see why this preservation battle changed American history.

Bulldozers Almost Wiped Out America’s Oldest Neighborhood in 1957

In the mid-1950s, the Portsmouth Housing Authority wanted to tear down the entire Puddle Dock neighborhood to build garden apartments with federal money.

This wasn’t just any old area – Puddle Dock had buildings from the 1600s, including the rare 1695 Sherburne House.

Federal housing officials looked at these centuries-old buildings and only saw a "slum" that needed clearing.

Families who had lived there for generations faced losing their homes with no thought given to saving America’s oldest continuously lived-in neighborhood.

A Librarian in a Pink Suit Stood Up to Portsmouth’s Power Players

Dorothy Vaughan, the city librarian who knew local history inside and out, put on her pink suit and walked into the Portsmouth Rotary Club meeting in 1957.

She might have felt nervous, but her voice stayed strong as she told the room full of the city’s top businessmen they needed to stop knocking down historic houses.

She spoke clearly: every old house torn down meant Portsmouth was losing pieces of its past forever. The businessmen paid attention, and many decided to join her fight to save Puddle Dock.

Local Citizens Joined Forces Against the Wrecking Balls

Dorothy Vaughan’s talk started a movement. She gathered a growing team of worried locals who went door-to-door building support against the demolition plans.

The group came up with a clever option based on an old 1930s idea.

They said Portsmouth could keep its historic buildings while still getting better housing by fixing up the old structures.

The citizen group held public meetings that grew larger each time, showing city officials that many people cared about saving their neighborhood’s three centuries of history.

A 262-Year-Old House Became the Symbol of Resistance

When bulldozers nearly tore down the Sherburne House in 1957, those fighting for preservation found their perfect symbol.

Built in 1695, it ranked as the second-oldest building in New Hampshire and faced quick destruction for the urban renewal project.

Local newspapers covered stories about the at-risk landmark, and people began asking why such an important piece of colonial architecture would be thrown away.

The house soon stood for the whole fight: Would Portsmouth keep its unique heritage or trade it all for federal money and new buildings?

Housing Officials Changed Their Minds About Demolition

The Portsmouth Housing Authority shocked everyone when they began listening to the preservation group’s ideas. Officials who once wanted total demolition started to see the value in Vaughan’s other plan.

The two groups that had fought each other teamed up, creating a much stronger voice when talking to federal authorities.

Together, they worked out a deal that would save the most important historic buildings while still meeting housing goals.

The Feds Said Yes to Saving History in 1958

After months of meetings and paperwork, the Portsmouth team got what seemed impossible: federal approval for their preservation plan in June 1958.

This marked a huge win – the first time in New England that historic preservation stopped urban renewal bulldozers.

Federal housing authorities agreed that some buildings could stay instead of clearing the whole neighborhood.

Other towns across America started looking at Portsmouth’s approach when facing similar threats to their historic areas.

National Experts Helped the Local Volunteers

Dr. Richard Howland from the National Trust for Historic Preservation came to Portsmouth and gave the local group key advice.

He helped the volunteers understand the complex federal rules and showed them how to meet preservation standards.

The national experts taught Portsmouth residents how to document the value of buildings in ways that government officials would take seriously.

Howland pushed the group to get properly organized for the long fight ahead.

The Grassroots Movement Became an Official Organization

On November 12, 1958, the citizen activists made it official by forming Strawbery Banke, Inc. , named after the original 1630 settlement.

Their charter laid out plans to buy, care for, and manage properties that showed Portsmouth’s early history.

With this legal structure, they could now accept donations, apply for grants, and eventually purchase the threatened properties. The new organization set up a board of directors and started serious fundraising efforts.

The Preservationists Bought Ten Acres of History in 1964

After years of fundraising and talks, Strawbery Banke, Inc. finally bought the entire ten-acre Puddle Dock parcel from the city in 1964.

The purchase gave them control of 70 historic structures sitting on their original foundations. The price tag was high for a volunteer organization, showing the community’s deep commitment to saving their heritage.

Once the land belonged to the preservation group, they could finally stop worrying about bulldozers and start focusing on fixing up the buildings.

Some Buildings Were Lost, But Many Were Saved

The final deal meant about forty buildings came down while thirty stayed standing. The preservation team had to make hard choices about which structures truly mattered most to Portsmouth’s story.

They focused on buildings that showed different time periods and building styles across three centuries.

Some important structures, like Governor Goodwin’s mansion, even moved to the museum site from other parts of town where they faced demolition.

America’s First Neighborhood Museum Opened Its Doors in 1965

Strawbery Banke welcomed its first visitors as a living history museum in 1965, just eight years after the preservation battle began.

Unlike other museums that collected random old buildings from different places, Strawbery Banke preserved an entire neighborhood right where it had always stood.

Visitors could walk streets that had been there since the 1600s and see how real Portsmouth families had lived across three centuries.

Visiting Strawbery Banke Museum Houses, New Hampshire

Strawbery Banke Museum at 14 Hancock Street in Portsmouth shows how citizens fought urban renewal from 1957-1965 to save America’s oldest neighborhood. Adult tickets cost $24 and work for two days.

The museum opens April 26-October 26, 10am-4pm, closed Tuesdays.

You can take 90-minute guided tours on Tuesdays only or book behind-the-scenes tours of Sherburne House and Chase House year-round.

This article was created with AI assistance and human editing.

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