Portsmouth Forts
List of Source Materials used for this Website
- Fort Stark State Historic Site (pamphlet), New Hampshire Division of Parks and Recreation, 1997
- The History of Fort Constitution (pamphlet), New Hampshire Division of Parks and Recreation, 1997
- Fort Constitution (Site of Fort William and Mary) (pamphlet), New Hampshire Division of Parks, 1974
- Odiorne Point State Park (pamphlet), New Hampshire Division of Parks and Recreation, 1997
- Fort McClary (leaflet), Maine Bureau of Parks and Lands, undated
- Portsmouth Naval Shipyard Historical Trail (pamphlet), Portsmouth Naval Shipyard Museum, 2000 (Fort Sullivan)
- Fort Foster Park (leaflet), Kittery Parks Division, undated
- Fort Washington Historical Marker, Peirce Island East End Trail, erected by City of Portsmouth, 2004
- Halibut Point State Park (pamphlet), Massachusetts Division of Forests and Parks, 1999 (Halibut Point Tower)
- State Coastal Properties Project: Part 1, Fort Stark, The Thoresen Group; New Hampshire Office of State Planning, 1983
- State Coastal Properties Project: Part 2, Fort Dearborn, The Thoresen Group; New Hampshire Office of State Planning, 1983
- Odiorne State Park Natural Science and Historical Studies, Annette Cottrell, 1973
- Exploring Odiorne Point: A Guide to the Natural and Social History at Odiorne Point State Park, Julia Steed Mawson (editor), with Annette Cottrell, Margaret Watkins, Deborah Coulombe; Friends of Odiorne Point, 1992
- Footprints in Time: A Walk Where New Hampshire Began, Howard Crosby, Wendy Lull, Richard MacIntyre; Alan Sutton Limited, 1994 (Fort Dearborn)
- David Thompson of Pannaway Plantation (article), Charles and Anne Eastman; New Hampshire Profiles - volume ??, date ?? (Odiorne Point)
- A History of Fort McClary State Historic Site, Sheila McDonald and Elaine Peverly; Maine Bureau of Parks and Recreation, and Kittery Historical and Naval Museum, 1993
- The Forts of Maine, 1607 - 1945: An Archaeological and Historical Survey, Robert Bradley; Maine Historic Preservation Commission, and Maine Bureau of Parks and Recreation, 1981 (Fort McClary)
- Kittery Kaleidoscope, Kittery Bicentennial Commission, 1976 (Forts McClary and Foster, Naval Shipyard)
- Pulpit Rock Observation Station: Proposal for Nomination to the National Register of Historic Places (type-written manuscript), Lt. Col. Wilbar Hoxie (US Army), mid-1970's
- Coast Forts in Colonial New Hampshire (article), Robert Arthur; The Coast Artillery Journal - volume 58, No. 6, June 1923 (Fort Constitution)
- The Capture of Fort William and Mary, December 14 and 15, 1774 (booklet), Charles Parsons; Proceedings of the New Hampshire Historical Society, 1906; reprint Joseph Copley; Fort William and Mary Committee of the New Hampshire American Revolution Bicentennial Commission, 1974
- The Attack on Fort William and Mary (article), Theodore Chase; Historical New Hampshire - volume 18, No. 1, April 1963
- What Happened to the King's Powder? (article), Elwin Page; Historical New Hampshire - volume 19, No. 2, Summer 1964
- Fort William and Mary: A Case Study in Crowd Behavior (article), Theodore Crackel and Martin Andresen; Historical New Hampshire - volume 29, No. 4, Winter 1974
- New Hampshire on the Road to Revolution: Fort William and Mary, A Decisive Step (article), Douglas Sweet; Historical New Hampshire - volume 29, No. 4, Winter 1974
- Powder to the People: The Revolutionary Structure behind the Attacks on Fort William and Mary, 1774 (article), Darryl Cathers; Historical New Hampshire - volume 29, No. 4, Winter 1974
- Fort William and Mary Becomes Fort Constitution (article), Harriet Lacy; Historical New Hampshire - volume 29, No. 4, Winter 1974
- The Raids on Fort William and Mary: Some New Evidence (article), Paul Wilderson; Historical New Hampshire - volume 30, No. 3, Fall 1975
- The Forgotten Forts of the Piscataqua (article), William Penrose Tarbell; New Hampshire Profiles - volume 24, October 1975 (Clark's Point Redoubt - Shaw's Hill Fort)
- The Seizure of His Majesty's Fort William and Mary at New Castle, New Hampshire, December 14-15, 1774 (essay), Thomas Kehr; New Hampshire Society, Sons of the American Revolution, 2007 (revised)
- Letter from Dr. Hall Jackson to the New Hampshire Congress, (undated) 1775, New Hampshire Provincial Papers, volume VII, pp 652-653 (general note of fortifications)
- Journal of the House: Saturday, January 27th, 1776, New Hampshire Provincial Papers, volume VIII, p 64 (appointment of Capt. Ezekiel Worthen as Chief Commander of Piscataqua River defenses)
- Journal of the House: Friday, June 7th, 1776, New Hampshire Provincial Papers, volume VIII, p 135 (reference to a new fort being built on Great Island - either the Jerry's Point Battery or the Clark's Point Redoubt)
- Journal of the House: Tuesday, December 30th, 1777, New Hampshire Provincial Papers, volume VIII, p 758 (resolution for enlistment of 50 artillerists for Portsmouth defenses - 25 at Fort Washington and 25 at Fort Sullivan, appointment of Capt. Titus Salter as Commander of Fort Washington, appointment of Capt. Eliphalet Daniels as Commander of Fort Sullivan, pay scale for officers and enlisted men at both forts, reference to Fort Hancock)
- Letter from Capt. Titus Salter to the New Hampshire Congress, March 14th, 1776, New Hampshire Provincial Papers, volume VIII, p 92 (report of signaling methods to be used at the Fort Point Lighthouse on sight of enemy vessels)
- Letter from Col. Pierce Long to the New Hampshire Congress, January 20th, 1777, New Hampshire Provincial Papers, volume VIII, pp 472-473 (reference to "invalids" under Long's command working on the construction of Fort Hancock)
- The Defenses of Portsmouth Harbor, 1794 - 1821: The First and Second Systems of Seacoast Fortification (article), Arthur Wade; Historical New Hampshire - volume 33, No. 1, Spring 1978 (Fort Constitution and Walbach Tower)
- Notes on the Garrison for Portsmouth Harbor 1798 - 1944, William Gaines, unpublished compilation, 2002
- Ordnance and Explosive Waste Chemical Warfare Materials: Archives Search Report Findings, Fort Constitution, Project Number D01NH030403, US Army Corps of Engineers, 1995
- Ordnance and Explosive Waste Chemical Warfare Materials: Archives Search Report Findings, Camp Langdon, Project Number D01NH000102, US Army Corps of Engineers, 1995
- Ordnance and Explosive Waste Chemical Warfare Materials: Archives Search Report Findings, Fort Stark, Project Number D01NH001401, US Army Corps of Engineers, 1995
- Formerly Used Defense Sites (FUDS) Project Fact Sheet and Site Survey Summary Sheet, Salisbury Beach Military Reservation, Project Number D01MA051701, US Army Corps of Engineers, 1995
- Formerly Used Defense Sites (FUDS) Project Fact Sheet and Amended Site Survey Summary Sheet, Fort Dearborn, Project Number D01NH030503, US Army Corps of Engineers, 1998
- Democracy Fights: A History of New Hampshire in World War II, Philip Guyol; Dartmouth Publications, 1951 (Fort Constitution, Fort Dearborn, Camp Langdon, Portsmouth Armory)
- Constructing Munitions of War: The Portsmouth Navy Yard Confronts the Confederacy, 1861 - 1865, Richard Winslow; The Portsmouth Marine Society, 1995 (Forts Sullivan, Constitution, and McClary)
- The World, Portsmouth, and the 22nd Coast Artillery: The War Years 1938 - 1948, Jack Wysong; Pictorial Histories Publishing Co., 1997
- Memories of Defending New Hampshire's Seacoast (newspaper article), Paul Snyder; Atlantic News, December 5 and 12, 1996 (an account of Cpl. Lester Stevens at Fort Constitution in WWII)
- Waiting for the Enemy: Memoirs of a World War II Soldier Serving in Wartime New England and Europe, Norman Hope, unpublished manuscript, 2001 (Camp Langdon, Fort Stark, Fort Dearborn)
- The Military History of Boston's Harbor Islands, Gerald Butler; Arcadia Publishing, 2000 (various WWII-era photographs of HD Portsmouth)
- The Military History of the Cape Cod Canal, Gerald Butler; Arcadia Publishing, 2002 (photo of Salisbury Beach Military Reservation)
- Army Engineers in New England: The Military and Civil Work of the Corps of Engineers in New England 1775 - 1975, Aubrey Parkman; U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New England Division, 1978 (general history, photos of Salisbury Beach Military Reservation and Fort Stark)
- Around Portsmouth in the Victorian Era: The Photography of the Davis Brothers, James Dolph and Ronan Donohoe; Arcadia Publishing, 1997 (Forts Constitution and McClary)
- Historic Portsmouth: Early Photographs from the Collection of Strawbery Banke, James Garvin and Susan Grigg; Strawbery Banke Inc., 1995 (Forts Constitution and McClary)
- A History of the Second Regiment, New Hampshire Volunteer Infantry, in the War of Rebellion, Martin A. Haynes, 1896 (Camp Constitution)
- New Hampshire in the Civil War, Bruce Heald; Arcadia Publishing, 2001 (Fort Constitution and Camp Constitution)
- Portsmouth-Kittery Naval Shipyard in Old Photographs, Robert Whittaker; Alan Sutton Publishing Inc., 1993 (Fort Sullivan)
- "Do Your Job!": An Illustrated Bicentennial History of the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, 1800-2000, Richard Winslow; The Portsmouth Marine Society, 2000 (Forts Constitution, McClary, and Sullivan)
- Portsmouth, Gerald Foss; Alan Sutton Publishing, 1994 (Forts Constitution and McClary)
- Portsmouth: Historic and Picturesque, Caleb Gurney, 1902; 2nd edition, Strawbery Banke Inc., 1981 (Fort Washington, Portsmouth Arsenal, Portsmouth Plains Powder House)
- They Came to Fish, Raymond Brighton; Peter E. Randall Publisher, 1994 (revised) (Portsmouth Arsenal, Portsmouth Armory)
- Portsmouth Harbor's Military and Naval Heritage, Nelson Lawry, Glen Williford, Leo Polaski; Arcadia Publishing, 2004
- A Determination of the Historical Significance of Battery Elon Farnsworth, Fort Constitution, New Castle, New Hampshire (report), Nelson Lawry; University of New Hampshire, 2001
- Masonry Conditions Report: Battery Farnsworth, Walbach Tower, Mines Casemate (report), John Wastrom; University of New Hampshire, 2001
- Time Capsule Battery: The Problems at Battery Farnsworth (article), Glen Williford; The Coast Defense Journal, volume 16, No. 3, August 2002
- The Portsmouth Armory and the Coast Defenses of Portsmouth (article), Pete Payette; The Coast Defense Journal, volume 18, No. 4, November 2004
- Reports of Completed Works, site plans, other reports, photographs, etc., copies from the National Archives and Library of Congress, via several members of the Coast Defense Study Group
- The Coast Defense Journal (various articles and authors), Coast Defense Study Group Press, 1986 - 2002
- Designating US Seacoast Fortifications: War Department General Orders and Letters from the Adjutant General, 1809 - 1950, Matthew Adams, 2000 (fort and battery nomenclature)
- Lighthouses and Lifesaving Along the Maine and New Hampshire Coast, James Claflin; Arcadia Publishing, 1999
- Lighthouses of Maine and New Hampshire, Timothy Harrison and Kathleen Finnegan, 1991
- Solitary Vigils at Boon Island, William Thomson, 2000
- Nubble Light (Cape Neddick Light Station), William Thomson, 2000
- numerous old newspaper articles from the Portsmouth Herald, via the Portsmouth Public Library and the Portsmouth Athenaeum
Also, please see the LINKS PAGE for outside websites with useful information on other aspects of the history of Portsmouth Harbor.
Research Institutions in the Portsmouth Area
NOTE: contact info subject to change
- Portsmouth Public Library, 175 Parrott Avenue, Portsmouth, NH 03801
(603) 427-1540
- Portsmouth Athenaeum, Joseph P. Copley Research Library, PO Box 848, 9 Market Square, Portsmouth, NH 03802
(603) 431-2538
- Portsmouth Historical Society, PO Box 728, 43 Middle Street, Portsmouth, NH 03802
(603) 436-8420
- Strawbery Banke, Thayer L. Cumings Library and Archives, 454 Court Street, Portsmouth, NH 03801
(603) 433-1100
- James E. Whalley Museum and Library (Masonic Temple), 351 Middle Street, Portsmouth, NH 03801
(603) 436-3943
- Portsmouth Naval Shipyard Library, Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, Portsmouth, NH 03804
(207) 438-2769
- Portsmouth Naval Shipyard Museum, Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, Portsmouth, NH 03804
(207) 438-2320 or 438-2325
- New Castle Public Library, 301 Wentworth Road, New Castle, NH 03854
(603) 431-6773
- Rice Public Library, 8 Wentworth Street, Kittery, ME 03904
(207) 439-1553
- Kittery Historical and Naval Museum, Rogers Road Ext., Kittery, ME 03904
(207) 439-3080
- Rye Public Library, 581 Washington Road, Rye, NH 03870
(603) 964-8401
- Seacoast Science Center, 570 Ocean Boulevard, Rye, NH 03870
(603) 436-8043
- U.N.H. Dimond Library - Milne Special Collections and Archives, 18 Library Way, University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH 03824
(603) 862-2714
- Phillips Exeter Academy Library, Phillips Exeter Academy, Exeter, NH 03833
(603) 778-3426
- Family History Center (Mormon Church), Route 88, Exeter, NH 03833
(603) 778-2509