Historic Portsmouth: Early Photographs from the Collection of Strawbery Banke

These photographs record a lost landscape. They remind us of buildings and streetscapes that have been swept away or changed – first by indifference and decay, then by government programs, and recently by prosperity of an age that appreciated the past but sometimes found it not quite good enough to live with. These pictures also chronicle a lost way of life. They remind us of a people who had long looked to farm and forest, to trade, and the sea for their livelihood. An era has ended forever, and these photographs remain its most poignant memorial. – from the Preface