A Few Tidbits About
New Castle/Portsmouth History
• In 1774 Paul Revere rode to Portsmouth warning that the British were coming with warships to subdue the port. • New Castle is the sight of Fort William and Mary and one of the first acts of the American Revolution. On December 14, 1774, colonists arrived at midnight, waded ashore and climbed over the fort’s wall. They took the fort and 100 barrels of gunpowder that were used at the 1775 Battle of Bunker Hill. • In 1874 the Hotel Wentworth was built in New Castle. After early financial difficulties it was purchased and elaborately refurbished by Portsmouth alemaker and hotelier, Frank Jones. • When President Theodore Roosevelt mediated the 1905 Treaty of Portsmouth to end the Russo-Japanese War, envoys from both countries stayed at the Wentworth by the Sea Hotel and ferried over to the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard for negotiations. • The stately brick Federalist stores and townhouses in Portsmouth’s downtown were built after devastating 19thcentury fires. The worst was in 1813 when 244 buildings burned. A fire district was created that required all new buildings within its boundaries to be built of brick with slate roofs, creating the downtown’s distinctive appearance. Sources: US Census Bureau 2010, Wikipedia