Photo Record
Catalog Number | P0007_55_02 |
Collection | Arthur I. Harriman Photograph |
Title | Old Assembly House |
Date | circa 1935 |
Year Range from | 1900 |
Year Range to | 1950 |
Description |
The former Assembly House, corner of Vaughn Street and Raitt's Court, Portsmouth, NH. Built by Michael Whidden III about 1771, the Assembly House was rented for dances, concerts, exhibits, lectures and religious services. In 1789, President George Washington attended a gala ball and praised the building as "one of the best I have seen anywhere in the United States." About 1820, assemblies moved to the Franklin Hall on Congress Street. In1838, James Raitt, a local blacksmith, bought the property. The Assembly Hall's large center hall was removed and the building was divided into two separate tenements (as seen in the photograph) creating what was then Raitts Court between the two halves. During the Vaughan Street Urban Renewal Project, c. 1968, the former Assembly House was spared the initial rounds of demolition, but ultimately and apparently due to a lack of historical evidence, the building was demolished in the early 1970s. |
Photographer |
Harriman, Arthur I. (Portsmouth) |
Object Name | Print, Photographic |
Print size | 3.5" x 2.5" |
Search Terms |
Vaughan Street North End (Portsmouth, NH) Raitts Court Assembly House (Vaughan Street & Raitts Court) Vaughan Street Urban Renewal Project In and Around Old Portsmouth: Historical Facts and Shrines (Arthur I. Harriman) |
Subjects |
Historic buildings Dance halls Social life and customs - 18th century Presidential visits Demolished |
People |
Washington, George, 1732-1799 Whidden, Michael (Capt.), c1731-1818 |