Ring in the New, Recycle the Old

Picking the first photo of a new year is always tough. The historian wants to find an image that says something about the past, but also speaks to the future.

The little boy in the sailor suit with the giant hat (I’m guessing boy, but I could be wrong) is standing on Daniel Street in Portsmouth. The year (I’m guessing again) is between 1890 and 1900. I particularly like the low child-height angle of this photo, rare and even experimental for the time period.

Most Americans, I assume, are glad to see the back end of this year. The child in this case symbolizes the happy hopeful promise of the coming year. He is surrounded by the architecture of the past. Behind the boy to the right was, I believe, the huge gambrel-roofed structure then known to locals as Noah’s Ark. The former Clagett-Hart House (circa 1740) was owned at the time by Noah Parker and Penhallow Street to the rear was often called Ark Street.

“Noah’s Ark” offers one example of how we treat the past. It was torn down in the 1960s and is currently a parking lot on Daniel Street. But to left of the happy boy (behind the hydrant and across from the horse-drawn delivery cart), we can also glimpse Stoodley’s Tavern. Built in 1761, the tavern was home to the family of James Stoodley and two enslaved Africans, Frank and Flora. It was the site of slave auctions and a meeting place for Portsmouth patriots prior to the American Revolution. Instead of being razed in the 1960s like Noah’s Ark, Stoodley’s Tavern was moved to Strawbery Banke Museum where it was adapted for use as the Education Center and offices.

Times change. Daniel Street used to be Graffort Lane. And Stoodley’s stood on the corner of what is now the controversial McIntyre Building block. In this shot, we can see the rooftops of a row of attractive houses razed to make way for the federal building. Visible also is the top of the old brick high school, later the City Hall, and now an office building. Well known for recycling old buildings for new uses, the city is also undergoing a massive growth spurt–exciting for some, frightening for others.

Copyright J. Dennis Robinson