This 10-acre living history museum depicts 300+ years of American history in the same waterfront neighborhood in downtown Portsmouth NH. Costumed role-players, working craftsmen, special exhibits, hands-on family activities, historical gardens and special historical interest programs enliven 38 buildings across the grounds. Signature holiday events: An American Celebration July 4, NH Fall Festival, Vintage & Vine wine tasting, PASSPORT beer & culinary festival, Ghosts on the Banke family Halloween and Candlelight Stroll (first 3 weekends in Dec) an anchor of Vintage Christmas in Portsmouth.

Each year a different featured exhibit supplements the permanent exhibits in the interpreted houses. Contact museum curator at 603-433-1100 for information on loaned exhibits.

Contact museum archaeologist Sheila Charles, scharles@strawberybanke.org

Visitors to Strawbery Banke have the opportunity to experience and imagine how people lived and worked in this typical American neighborhood through nearly four centuries of history. Using restored houses, featured exhibits, historic landscapes and gardens, and interpretive programs, Strawbery Banke tells the stories of the many generations who settled in this Portsmouth, New Hampshire "Puddle Dock" community from the late l7th to the mid-20th century.

Significantly, this site was rescued from the poorly conceived urban renewal policies of the 1950s by conscientious, far sighted citizens. Always maintaining its grass roots origins, there has been no single benefactor underwriting its existence. Strawbery Banke has relied upon and continues to rely upon the generous support of numerous individuals who believe in the importance of preserving a site that so accurately depicts the history of immigrants transforming themselves into a community of American citizens.

The collections, and the furnished houses in which they reside, are the context in which Strawbery Banke's stories are told, reenacted, and displayed. These historic objects from across the centuries are the living history that visitors come to see, and, from them, they gain a new appreciation for the significance of the lives that have gone before.