Gundalow Company & Back to Strawbery Banke
For the third year in a row, I took my annual trip to Portsmouth, NH. This trip was shorter than the previous two, as I spent a day in the city revisiting Strawbery Banke, which I last visited in 2022, and checking off a bucket list item: riding the gundalow operated by The Gundalow Company. While the day was overcast with occasional drizzle, I enjoyed seeing new surprises at the living history museum, along with viewing the city from the water.
When last I visited Strawbery Banke, Walsh House was undergoing renovation, Sherborne House & Garden needed a complete overhaul, and Aldrich House & Garden was closed. For this visit, I could see the entire first floor of Walsh House. I was impressed by an exhibit featuring the table settings of the early 19th century. Motion sensors attached to dishes and silverware triggered an audio recording of a voiceover actor playing Mrs. Walsh explaining each piece. Sherborne House, the oldest building on the property, looked fresh with its new siding despite the original section being built around 1695, with the other half of the building added in 1703. Newly opened Aldrich House celebrated author Thomas Bailey Aldrich who onced lived in the property with his grandparents and wrote a children’s book based on the experience, The Story of a Bad Boy, launching a subgenre of stories about naughty children. Aldrich was also known as the editor of The Atlantic Monthly, much like fellow Portsmouth resident James Thomas Fields whose house I visited in 2022. Additionally, this magazine was a publisher of works by Sarah Orne Jewett of Jewett House, now owned by Historic New England.
While in the Rowland Gallery, I notice a significant change to the “Think Blue. What Can You Do?” interactive. Previously, colorful yarn accompanied a large printed sign of a house, encouraging visitors to wrap yarn over the various pegs attached to points of water waste. I imagine yarn was also wrapped around necks of school children and carried away in tiny pockets, resulting in a major redesign of the interactive. Now, a series of QR codes directs phones to brief videos demonstrating water waste prevention. I would have preferred a solution without screens, but at least this alternative is safer and less messy. Meanwhile, in the “Port of Portsmouth” exhibit located inside Yeaton House, I spotted a pair of model gundalows, foreshadowing my upcoming voyage.
After a stop at Sheafe Warehouse — described as Portsmouth’s response to Motif No. 1 in Rockport, MA — I made by way to the gundalow Piscataqua. This flat-bottomed boat was unique to the Portsmouth area and the rest of the Gulf of Maine from the mid-17th to the 20th century. Its shallow draft allowed the boat to be navigated up and down the rivers moving with the times. The gundalow evolved to have a square sail to help with navigation, but this became a problem as bridges appeared along the river. Instead, sailors fitted their gundalows with a triangular lateen sail attached to a yard, or a long piece of wood connected to a stump mast, which could be lowered so the boat would fit underneath bridges. The modern gundalow, built in 2011, has useful safety features like life vests, a safety barrier, and an onboard motor.
While on the water, I saw many historical structures that are difficult to see from shore. Memorial Bridge, which I last discussed in “Quick History Stops: Portsmouth, NH | Part 1”, stood on one end of the harbor. On an island patrolled by a pair of police boats was the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, which is technically in Kittery, ME. Now on the National Register of Historic Places, the yard was founded in 1800 and repairs boats to this day, making it the oldest operational shipyard in the United States. Next door to the shipyard is the castle-like Portsmouth Naval Prison, now abandoned, which operated from 1908 to 1974. Visible in the distance were Portsmouth Harbor Lighthouse, Fort Foster, and Whaleback Lighthouse.
The gundalow tour was a fun and relaxing experience even with a bit of rain. I especially enjoyed the interaction of raising the sail. I would gladly return to try another tour, such as the Sunset Sail, Concert Cruise, and Speaker Series. Tickets for the ninety-minute Portsmouth Harbor Sail were $35 for adults, $17.50 for children ages 8 to 15, and $8 for children under 8. Proceeds support the educational programs of the Gundalow Company.
