The Exeter Waterfront Commercial Historic District encompasses the historic commercial and residential waterfront areas of
Exeter, New Hampshire
Exeter is a town in Rockingham County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 16,049 at the 2020 census, up from 14,306 at the 2010 census. Exeter was the county seat until 1997, when county offices were moved to neighboring Brentwood. ...
. The district extends along the north side of Water Street, roughly from Main Street to Front Street, and then along both sides of Water and High streets to the latter's junction with Portsmouth Street. It also includes properties on Chestnut Street on the north side of the
Squamscott River
The Squamscott River is a tidal river in Rockingham County, southeastern New Hampshire, in the United States. It rises at Exeter, fed by the Exeter River. The Squamscott runs north between Newfields and Stratham to Great Bay, a tidal estuar ...
. This area was where the early settlement of Exeter took place in 1638, and soon developed as a shipbuilding center. The district was listed on the
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...
in 1980.
It was enlarged in 1986 to include the mill complex of the Exeter Manufacturing Company on Chestnut Street.
Description and history
Exeter was founded in 1638 by Rev.
John Wheelwright
John Wheelwright (c. 1592–1679) was a Puritan clergyman in England and America, noted for being banished from the Massachusetts Bay Colony during the Antinomian Controversy, and for subsequently establishing the town of Exeter, New Hamps ...
and his followers, who had been banished from the
Massachusetts Bay Colony
The Massachusetts Bay Colony (1630–1691), more formally the Colony of Massachusetts Bay, was an English settlement on the east coast of North America around the Massachusetts Bay, the northernmost of the several colonies later reorganized as the ...
to the south over religious differences. Its location on the Squamscott River soon developed as a shipbuilding and lumber shipment center, with the community center on the south bank and a primarily residential area on the north bank. Its oldest surviving structure, the
Gilman Garrison House
The Gilman Garrison House is a historic house museum at 12 Water Street in Exeter, New Hampshire. Built in 1709, it is a rare surviving example of a garrison house or fortified structure. It is owned by Historic New England, which operates the ...
, was built c. 1700, and is one of a small number of sawn-log garrison houses to survive. It is now a museum operated by
Historic New England
Historic New England, previously known as the Society for the Preservation of New England Antiquities (SPNEA), is a charitable, non-profit, historic preservation organization headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts. It is focused on New England a ...
.
In 1827 a mill complex was established on the river bank, and mill worker housing arose on the north bank, in the Pleasant Street area. After a series of fires in the mid-19th century the brick-built section of Water Street was developed, giving the downtown area much of its present character. The "upper" portion of Water and High streets, south of the fire district, has retained more of its early 19th-century character, with wood-frame residential and commercial buildings. One early surviving industrial building is the Gilman grist mill, located on Kimball Island in the river.
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See also
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References
{{NRHP in Rockingham County, New Hampshire
Federal architecture in New Hampshire
Greek Revival architecture in New Hampshire
Victorian architecture in New Hampshire
Buildings and structures in Exeter, New Hampshire
Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in New Hampshire
National Register of Historic Places in Rockingham County, New Hampshire