Portsmouth bike tour of historic landmarks

• Headgear • Use of a bicycle

• Gratuities and tips

• Nearby public transportation options are accessible • Infant seats designed for safety are provided • Not advisable for individuals with spinal injuries • Appropriate for all levels of physical fitness

To receive a full refund, cancellations must be made at least 24 hours prior to the scheduled departure.

• Highlights of the Hidden Neighborhoods of Portsmouth City View Bike Tour: Former North End / Italian "Little Italy" The Hill South End and Prescott Park Strawbery Banke Wentworth Coolidge Mansion Frank Jones Brewery - West End Creek Neighborhood - Christian Shore • The story of destruction and preservation in Little Italy is notable. Colorful wooden houses are nestled next to large hotels like the Marriot and Hilton. In the early 1970s, there was a belief that deteriorating buildings led to challenges in urban populations. Following World War II, many cities demolished numerous "blighted" areas, often replacing them with high-rise residential buildings, shopping centers, and hotels. Portsmouth lost significant historical sites, like parts of Vaughan Street, which were replaced by parking facilities and vacant spaces. The tour will showcase a selection of preserved historic houses that were saved through urban renewal efforts. • The Strawbery Banke Museum originated from a local campaign to preserve history. In the late 1950s, the Puddle Dock area, known for its deteriorating homes near the Piscataqua River, faced urban renewal plans. The city intended to demolish these "substandard" houses, some as old as the 1600s, until librarian Dorothy Vaughn addressed the Portsmouth Rotary Club in 1957. Her passionate plea highlighted the loss of heritage with each demolished structure or exported antique, leading to action and the partial preservation of Puddle Dock as a museum. • Discover the picturesque Little Harbor. • Franklin Jones, born in Barrington, New Hampshire in 1832, was the fifth child in a large family. After leaving home at 16, he moved to Portsmouth to work in his brother's stove store. Within three years, he gained interest in the store and ultimately took over by 1854. Throughout his life, Jones was involved in multiple businesses, starting as a tin peddler and rag picker. In 1858, he partnered with John Swindell, an Englishman who had also moved to Portsmouth, to establish a brewery specializing in ale. • The Wentworth Lear Historic Houses consist of two historic homes on Portsmouth's southern waterfront. Both structures, along with an 18th-century warehouse, are overseen as a house museum, and a public museum exists only in the Wentworth-Gardner house. • Prescott Park spans over ten acres along the waterfront in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. This land was acquired in the 1930s by sisters Josie and Sarah Prescott, who were educators and used their inherited funds to systematically purchase and clear land along the Piscataqua River. • Visit the Endeavor Sculpture, which commemorates the 400th Anniversary of Portsmouth. • Strawbery Banke serves as an outdoor history museum located in the historic South End district of Portsmouth, New Hampshire. This site represents the earliest neighborhood settled by Europeans in New Hampshire, remaining intact in today's Portsmouth. • Porter was an esteemed Union Brevet Major General during the American Civil War, noted for his involvement in the Peninsula Campaign but later court-martialed for his conduct at the Second Battle of Bull Run in 1862. Initially a respected officer, he was exonerated and reinstated in 1886 after a long effort to clear his name. During the August 1862 battle, Porter's V Corps was part of Maj. Gen. John Pope's Army of Virginia, and he opposed attacking strong Confederate defenses, leading to charges of disobedience that resulted in his dismissal on January 21, 1863, following the Union defeat.