National Register of Historic Places

South Meetinghouse

Portsmouth, Rockingham County, New Hampshire
Listed
April 18, 1982
Type
Building
Period
Industrial
Ref No.
82001695

About this property

The South Meetinghouse is a historic ward hall at 260 Marcy Street (corner of Meeting House Hill) in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Completed in 1866, it is one of the city's finest examples of Italianate architecture, and a rare surviving example of a 19th-century ward hall. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982. It continues to be used as a community resource. The South Meetinghouse is located in Portsmouth's southern residential area, at the northwest corner of Marcy Street and Meeting House Hill. Oriented facing Marcy Street, it is a two-story wood-frame structure, with a gabled roof and clapboarded exterior. Italianate stylistic elements of the exterior include round-headed windows, and a bracketed roof at the top of its two-stage tower. The main entrance is sheltered by a Greek Revival four-column porch with Doric columns and an Ionic entablature, which extends the width of the front facade. The interior has a vestibule area with two staircases providing access to the upper level. The ground floor is divided into two spaces, with paired iron columns supporting the ceiling and upper level, which has a single large high-ceilinged chamber. The meetinghouse was built on the site of a 1731 meeting house, and was the only major civic structure on the south side of Portsmouth. It was built in 1866, after several years of agitation by local residents for a public meeting space in the city's southernmost ward. The building was designed by a committee appointed by the city council, and was built at a cost of $9,600. The building's upper level serves as a large public meeting space, and has seen use for political meetings, ward elections, and religious services. National Register of Historic Places listings in Rockingham County, New Hampshire

Location

Portsmouth, Rockingham County, New Hampshire
43.07470, -70.75229

Categories

POLITICS/GOVERNMENTARCHITECTURE
National Register nomination ›
Sources

Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).

Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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Nearby Historic Sites

Wentworth, Gov. John, House
Industrial
0.1 mi
Wentworth-Gardner House
Industrial
0.1 mi
Wentworth-Gardner and Tobias Lear Houses
Listed
0.1 mi
Porter, General, House
Industrial
0.1 mi
Strawbery Banke Historic District
Listed
0.1 mi

Questions about this property

When was South Meetinghouse listed on the National Register?

South Meetinghouse was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on April 18, 1982.

What type of historic resource is South Meetinghouse?

South Meetinghouse is classified as a building in the National Register of Historic Places.

What is the period of significance for South Meetinghouse?

The period of significance for South Meetinghouse is recorded as the industrial era.

Can I research the history near South Meetinghouse?

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