New Hampshire

Exploring the Town of Rye – New Hampshire Magazine

Published

3 years ago

June 21, 2022

Exploring the Town of Rye – New Hampshire Magazine

Wallis Sands State Seashore in Rye.

Rye makes essentially the most of its half of New Hampshire’s famously quick shoreline with a string of sandy seashores. They start at its border with North Hampton, the place the lengthy crescent of Bass Seashore is adopted by the large sands and excessive surf of Jenness State Seashore.

Farther north, past Rye Harbor, is Wallis Sands, protected by stone jetties and with views of Star Island (which can also be a part of Rye). On the rock-bound northern finish of city, Odiorne Level State Park has strolling trails alongside the shore however no seashores.

Though it’s the lengthy stretches of wave-washed sand that convey Rye essentially the most consideration — on a summer time weekend you have to reserve a spot early within the 500-car car parking zone at Wallis Sands — the city is much more than seashores. However each its previous and current are intently tied to the ocean.

Whereas exploring the coast in 1524, Giovanni da Verrazzano anchored off Odiorne Level. In 1605, Champlain sailed into the harbor; in 1614, John Smith (of Pocahontas fame) recorded crusing previous. It was a veritable social register of early explorers.

The very first settlement was in 1623, solely three years after the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth. These first settlers, led by David Thompson, got here to determine a base for fishing off the Isles of Shoals; their Pannaway Plantation was the primary European settlement in what was to change into New Hampshire. By 1630, that they had all relocated to Strawbery Banke, now Portsmouth.

In 1660, John Odiorne purchased land for a farm, which his descendants continued to carry till 1942, a complete of 282 years. The third farmhouse constructed by this household in 1800 nonetheless stands on the west facet of Route 1A, and behind it’s a cemetery with Odiorne household tombstones courting from the early 1800s. By the mid-Eighteen Eighties, rich households had begun to construct summer time “cottages” at Odiorne Level, one among which grew to become the elegant Sagamore Home, a lodge that attracted such notable figures as Cornelius Vanderbilt.

Rye’s summer time colony wasn’t simply at Odiorne Level. On the different finish of city, the imposing mansions that also line the inland facet of Ocean Boulevard should not as quite a few as these at Little Boar’s Head simply to the south however simply as spectacular.

Nearly hidden behind a pair of those is St. Andrews-by-the-Sea, one of many 10 seasonal chapels maintained by the Episcopal Church of New Hampshire. Accomplished in 1877, the stone church is one among two of those seasonal chapels which might be listed on the Nationwide Register of Historic Locations (the opposite is Emmanuel Church in Dublin).

The stained-glass home windows have been designed by John La Farge and the Tiffany studios. Alongside Church Street, in entrance of the church, is a conventional English lychgate, and the stone wall bordering the churchyard has a granite mounting block to help girls alighting from a carriage.

4063 Seacoast Science Center Rye New Hampshire

The Seacoast Science Middle at Odiorne Level State Park is one among this yr’s Better of NH Editor’s Picks.

World Warfare I and the Nice Melancholy modified the social dynamic of the summer time set, however it was World Warfare II that left essentially the most indelible marks on the summer time estates. Their idyllic life at Odiorne Level ended abruptly in 1942, when the land was taken over by the U.S. Military to change into Fort Dearborn. In December of 1941, the primary battery of 4 weapons was put in there to guard Portsmouth Harbor and the Naval Shipyard. The situation offered a transparent view and direct intention at any ship shut sufficient to fireside on the shipyard.

By January of 1942, all of the properties have been vacated and all however one torn all the way down to make room for the gun emplacements. Route 1A was closed to site visitors and barbed wire was strung alongside a “lifeless line” to forestall entry from the marsh creeks. The casemates that enclosed the 16-inch M1 weapons have been coated with earth and planted with quick-growing vines for camouflage. You may see the mounds at present at Odiorne Level State Park, some with full-grown timber on prime.

Farther south alongside the coast, one other relic of World Warfare II stays, this one an remark tower inbuilt 1943. Certainly one of 14 in a sequence of army defenses round Portsmouth, Pulpit Rock Tower is the one one to outlive. The 73-foot-high concrete construction has partitions a foot thick and an remark platform on the prime. A path results in it from Neptune Drive, and it’s often open to go to; it’s on the Nationwide Register of Historic Locations.

Till the early twentieth century, Rye Harbor was the province of fishermen and harvesters of English moss. However growing numbers of summer time guests introduced different alternatives, and at present Rye Harbor is the place to begin for whale-watching cruises with Granite State Whale Watch and several other fishing constitution operators headquartered in a row of colourful fishing shacks. Watch the boats come and go between the breakwaters from a bench or picnic desk at Rye Harbor State Park.

The ocean that has been so instrumental in shaping life in Rye will get its tribute on the Seacoast Science Middle in Odiorne Level State Park. Devoted to educating kids and adults in regards to the worth — and vulnerability — of oceans and marine life, the middle is greater than contact tanks the place children can maintain a starfish and pat a sea urchin. The tanks are staffed by naturalists who can present attention-grabbing traits such because the inexperienced eyes of a cat shark, shock guests with a spouting scallop, or fastidiously retrieve an ideal child lobster barely three inches lengthy.

Though the first emphasis is on sealife within the Gulf of Maine simply exterior the home windows, there’s an eye-grabbing show of colourful tropical fish and anemone to level up the vulnerability of coral reefs.

Opened in June of this yr is a completely new exhibit corridor known as “Our Dynamic Gulf of Maine,” which is full of interactive displays and instructing stations. These embody “Captured in Currents,” about tropical animals that trip north on the Gulf Stream and “Coastal Invaders,” on inexperienced crabs and different invasive species. “The Lobster Entice” is all about lobsters, and “Tales of Urgency and Hope” is a video station with tales of challenges and options associated to warming and rising seas. The middle was awarded a Better of New Hampshire Editor’s Choose in 2022.

Inside the trendy science heart constructing is the one remaining summer time dwelling to outlive the conversion to Fort Dearborn, the stone Sugden Home. Like the opposite confiscated properties at Odiorne Level, the home was not returned to its homeowners after the struggle however to the state of New Hampshire.

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New Hampshire

Sens. Sharon Carson & Regina Birdsell: We’ll keep New Hampshire on the path to prosperity

Published

5 hours ago

January 11, 2025

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Sens. Sharon Carson & Regina Birdsell: We’ll keep New Hampshire on the path to prosperity

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New Hampshire

Crash impacts traffic on I-95 northbound in NH

Published

17 hours ago

January 10, 2025

Press Room

Crash impacts traffic on I-95 northbound in NH

New Hampshire State Police responded to a crash Friday evening on Interstate 95 northbound in Portsmouth.

The crash happened near Exit 5 and closed the highway in the northbound direction, but police said around 7:45 p.m. that one lane had reopened.

Authorities did not have any word on injuries.

Drivers are being asked to avoid the area if possible. Delays and detours are expected.

No further details were immediately available.

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New Hampshire

NH Butterfly Monitoring Network Offers Online Trainings

Published

1 day ago

January 10, 2025

Press Room

NH Butterfly Monitoring Network Offers Online Trainings

CONTACT:
Heidi Holman, NH Fish and Game: 603-271-2461
Haley Andreozzi, UNH Cooperative Extension: (603) 862-5327
January 10, 2025

Concord, NH — Butterflies serve as important biodiversity indicators for ecosystem health and provide food for many speciess, such as migrating birds. There are more than 100 typess of butterflies in New Hampshire, but data on their presence and distribution is limited. With butterflies using forests, fields, wetlands, and backyards all over the state, volunteer observations are critical to providing a landscape view of these species.

A five-part online training series hosted by the NH Butterfly Monitoring Network will provide information on butterflies in New Hampshire, butterfly biology and identification, and how to get involved with the Network. The NH Butterfly Monitoring Network is a collaborative effort with a goal of engaging volunteers in counting and identifying butterflies across New Hampshire. Data collected by volunteers can contribute to the understanding of long-term trends in butterfly populations and inform conservation actions for both common and declining species.

Webinars in the series will include:

February 12, 6:30–7:30 p.m.: Intro to New Hampshire Butterflies
Mark Ellingwood, Wildlife Biologist and Volunteer with the Harris Center for Conservation Education

February 26, 6:30–7:30 p.m.: Wetland Butterflies of New Hampshire
Rick Van de Poll, Ecologist and Certified Wetland Scientist

March 12, 6:30–7:30 p.m.: Butterflying New Hampshire’s Woodlands
Levi Burford, Coordinator of the Errol Butterfly Count

March 26, 6:30–7:30 p.m.: Identifying New Hampshire’s Grassland Butterflies
Amy Highstrom, Coordinator of the Lake Sunapee Butterfly Count, and Vanessa Johnson, NH Audubon

April 9, 6:30–7:30 p.m.: Become a Volunteer Guide with NH Butterfly Monitoring Network
Haley Andreozzi, UNH Extension

All butterfly enthusiasts are welcome, with or without prior experience. For more information and to register for the session(s) you are interested in, visit nhbutterflies.org.

The NH Butterfly Monitoring Network is led by the NH Fish and Game Department and UNH Cooperative Extension with collaboration from partners statewide, including NH Audubon, Tin Mountain Conservation Center, the Harris Center for Conservation Education, and Ausbon Sargent Land Preservation Trust.

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