The Placenames of Portsmouth

[100 word] The business of naming is as old as language itself. Toponomy - the names folks bestow on their rivers and river banks, streets, buildings and other landmarks - provide a window into the soul of those people, through the history they have chosen to celebrate. The Placenames of Portsmouth, the first entry in The Placenames of AmericaT Series, takes the reader through 466 streets and 375 years of the history of one of this country's earliest New England seaports. An entertaining approach to times and names gone by, it serves as much as a vehicle for telling Portsmouth stories as a guide to its colorful streets. [250 word] The business of naming is as old as language itself. Toponomy - the names folks bestow on their rivers and river banks, streets, buildings and other landmarks - provide a window into the soul of those people, through the history they have chosen to celebrate. In 1623, the first settlers arrived in what would one day be known as Portsmouth, New Hampshire. The Native Americans in those parts already had a name for the swift-flowing Piscataqua River. The settlers took over from there. Delighted with the vegetation they found, they named their new home Strawbery Banke. The Placenames of Portsmouth, the first entry in The Placenames of AmericaT Series, takes the reader through 466 streets and 375 years of the history of one of this country's earliest New England seaports. An entertaining approach to times and names gone by, it serves as much as a vehicle for telling Portsmouth history as a guide to its colorful streets and neighborhoods. Portsmouth writer, artist, amateur historian and relative newcomer Nancy Grossman shares her enthusiasm for the local lore that permeates the back streets and sea air of the still-bustling waterfront she moved to in 1991. Lavishing as much attention on farmers, millers and workaday mariners as on the sea captains, brew kings and politicians whose presence can still be felt today in this popular tourist destination, Grossman chronicles name changes and permutations, the advent of new streets and the loss of old, with a persistent thoroughness, an eye for a good story and a light touch of humor.