Historic House Plaque
Our team of volunteers is saturated with orders from the holidays and we will not be taking new purchase applications until February 1. Please feel free to email and ask questions about the research process before that time.
In 2023, Portsmouth NH 400 (PNH400), the Friends of the South End (FOSE), the Citywide Neighborhood Committee (CNC), and the Portsmouth Athenaeum (P.A.) collaborated to re-institute an Historic House Plaque Program for Portsmouth's 400th Anniversary. The Portsmouth History Plaque Committee (PHPC) with representatives from FOSE, the CNC, and P.A., will continue to offer the Historic Plaque program in 2024.
The offer from PNH400 to subsidize $50 of every plaque ended on December 31, 2023. Plaques will no longer include "1623 History Lights Our Way - 2023." Portsmouth Athenaeum will be noted on the bottom of the plaque.
BEFORE YOU BUY: Fill out and submit the Historic House Plaque Program application HERE.
When your application has been reviewed, an email will be sent to you from portsplaques@gmail.com to confirm we are ready to receive your payment, with a link back to this product page.
The collective committee, the Portsmouth Historic House Sign Committee (PHHSC), has created a process by which the owners of any house, no matter the age or location in Portsmouth, can research the origins of their home and complete the application for approval to install an historic plaque that has been pre-approved by the City’s Historic District Commission (HDC).
Residents who complete the research and become accredited by the genealogist from P.A. working with PHHSC will be able to purchase a sign for their home. The signs are primed and painted white with black hand-painted lettering on 5/4 & red cedar and are available in two sizes.
Once payment is made and we have confirmed receipt, the Portsmouth Advocates will review your research and respond within two weeks time with either: