Strawbery Banke Museum — Attraction in Portsmouth

A decent way to spend 2 or 3 hours. Lots to see and read here. Many buildings have guides to tell you about the houses. Many historical periods from the 1700s to the 1950s were represented.

A lot was geared to who lived in each of the houses and their belongs. A small portion of the work life was represented, ship building, a store, container making.

I would have liked to learn about the buildings and homes of the Native Americans, but historians always skip the truth of this part of history. I did find one story online about Native Americans in Massachusetts who told of how settlers would find homes they thought were abandoned and take them over. The Native Americans were only off hunting or fishing and came home to find settlers living in their homes. This museum did have one small Native American exhibit, but it lacks the history of the people who lived here first, as well as the buildings and strictures created by them.

Also, the local coastline was filled in to make some neighborhoods, and some neighborhoods now flood. They go on to state how climate change effects things. I found this part to be too much preaching and not what I come to a historical museum to see.

The gift store closer to town was phenomenal, with many fantastic gifts and items to eat. Both traditional and modern types of gifts could be purchased. We tried the old style soda on this visit.

They had fantastic gardens both flower and fruit and vegetables. Some bee hives a fountain and many beautiful out door spaces.

We walked about 3 miles over 2 hours I. An out of the various buildings. We would have stayed longer, but a huge storm came in, and we headed off to a movie. Most of the paths are dirt, so wear comfortable clothing.

Also, they appear to be remodeling some of the homes, so it may be worth a return trip if they keep investing in the place. Not every building is accessible as some are closed or private, and we could never see the best part of the house, the basement. I would love to see the construction from below. But like all historical sites, they show the best and not a dirt dirt floor basement with the fantastic understructeholding up...

The Candlelight Stroll was fun for our whole family, even baby. This is the second year we've done the Candlelight Stroll and it's a really unique and enjoyable experience. The antique houses are interesting to walk through and the carolers were lovely. The bonfire and ice skating just added to the bustling festivities! We love this place and highly recommend it. Plan ahead for parking because there are only a few rows of spots near the museum. There is other off-site parking but it's a few blocks away.

CONS: As fun as we have there is always room for improvement. For example I feel like the houses could be decorated a bit more. I get that it's supposed to be of era but perhaps it could just be a tad more done up while sticking to the theme. Also it can be confusing which way you are supposed to go upon entering some of the houses so perhaps an arrow or sign to direct people because it can get pretty congested when people don't know which way to go. There's usually someone who greats people at the door but often they are taking to other guests and not always paying attention to the traffic. There is typically only a few rooms open for viewing and it would be nice if more of the rooms were open. Some of the houses are three stories yet only 1-2 rooms in the downstairs were open. It just seems like they could do more. The other issue was the mud. The little town is adorable but all the main walkways are so muddy. That's a much larger and expensive issue but I believe fixing that will improve the overall experience, especially parents pushing strollers.

FOR THE PARENTS WITH YOUNG KIDS: We brought a stroller and we'd just park it outside the houses and carry baby inside. Our son was too big but a baby carrier is great option for this museum. As I mentioned it's muddy so dress kids according. Both times I've been it was crazy windy. I'm thinking because it's right on the sea coast that it may be a little more windy in that area. Cold weather...

A fun place to spend the day. Really liked the variety of homes, time periods, and characters. Pricing was competitive for museums of this type; under $20 per person for 2 days is a great deal comparatively.

I had the honor and pleasure of getting to speak with Burt Wolf, the son of Mollie Shapiro, in the home his mother grew up in. Such a fascinating, touching, and unexpected experience, it made my day. He has great information and is a pleasant and humorous story teller, I felt like I was talking to a favorite uncle.

Some of the docents/interpreters were new and didn't have answers to some of my questions, but they were all friendly and fairly knowledgeable about the general history of each property. The woman in the Wheelwright house was amazing. She discussed the history of food, preparation, preservation, etc. She had great insights about the science of why certain methods work and how and why things were done a certain way, at a certain time, etc. She explained things well to both children and adults, asked questions to get visitors thinking, and had a wealth of knowledge about the evolution of foodways. Also pointed out some other locations in the museum she thought certain people would like based on their interests.

I enjoyed how connected to the city the museum is. Instead of a separate entity the museum really feels like an integral part of the downtown. Having the visitor tag allows you to explore the museum and the city without feeling like you have to do everything in one chunk. I was able to get breakfast downtown, visit the museum, explore the shops in Portsmouth, and pop back in the Strawbery Banke to see more in the afternoon; all without worrying that I HAD to see everything right away.

If you like other living history museums; Plimoth Patuxet, Colonial Williamsburg, Mystic Seaport, Old Sturbridge Village, Hancock Shaker Villiage, etc. you won't want...