Metal and Stone: A Public Art Bike Tour Through Portsmouth

Prescott Park

The Prescott sisters, Josie and Mary, are directly responsible for the creation of what is now known as Prescott Park. Josie and Mary were public school teachers and lived in Portsmouth all of their lives. When their older brother, Charles Prescott, died he left the two sisters a sizable inheritance. Josie and Mary loved their city and long desired to see the waterfront section along what is now Marcy Street beautified and made accessible to all. In the last will and testament of Josie Prescott a private trust fund of $500,000 was set up just for this purpose. This trust's sole purpose was to purchase land parcels along the Piscataqua River from lower State Street to Pickering and Gates Street and to make this land into a public park. In 1954 with much of the land purchase accomplished this private trust and associated land were turned over to the City of Portsmouth to be administered and maintained for perpetuity. The Prescott Trust Fund, now a city trust fund, is responsible.

Four Tree Island

An abstract depiction of a female figure wearing a flowing dress crouching forward on her proper left leg. Her proper right leg is extended backward with her foot raised in the air. The female figure holds an infant to her front proper left side cradled in her proper left hand. The infant's cheek is pressed against the female figure's cheek. The female figure's proper right hand clutches her proper right breast. The sculpture is placed atop a rough granite boulder with two benches placed against it. Installed Nov. 1975

Portsmouth

The Liberty Pole A symbol of citizen engagement in times of war and peace! The tall flag pole to the east of Puddle Dock and at the entrance to Prescott Park’s public gardens is so much a part of the landscape, it might get overlooked. On January 9, 1766, what we now know as the Liberty Pole was raised by the Sons of Liberty in protest of the Stamp Act. Nine years before the beginning of the American Revolution, the Liberty Pole was a rallying point for opposition to the Stamp Act.

Endeavor" (rendering below) the sculpture selected for the Legacy project is intended to frame that educational component and accent the opportunity afforded by the existing benches and pathways to contemplate the riverfront setting. Just a short walk from downtown the sculpture garden is designed to attract Seacoast visitors and members of the community, providing the perfect location for quiet reflection, a family picnic or educational programs on the historic port’s maritime history. The Mortal Sea," which details the long history of cod fishing on the Seacoast, the sculpture depicts a school of swimming codfish, each 24- to 48-inches long, crafted like a boat using laminated wood, marine epoxy and silver boat enamel. Suspended from the ceiling of the kiosk, about 10-feet off the ground, the fish move in the breeze.

Major General Fitz John Porter Statue

The court-martial of Fitz John Porter (November 25, 1862 – January 22, 1863) was a major event of the American Civil War. Major General Fitz John Porter was found guilty of disobeying a lawful order and misconduct in front of the enemy, and was removed from command based on internal political machinations of the Union Army. The court-martial was later found to be unjust and overturned, and Porter was reinstated in the United States Army. Once on his death bed, General Porter began working with sculptor James E. Kelly to create a monument that reflected how he viewed his legacy. The statue stands today, at Haven Park in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. It is graced by metal tablets at the base, which attempt to convey the error of Porter's court-martiaL.

Prescott Park

Fisherman's Luck (Sculpture) Details Also known as the whale sculpture in Prescott Park by sculptor Cabot Lyford (1925-2016).

3S Artspace

"Hard on the Wind" sculpture, a 14-foot sailboat. Parsons said it honors entrepreneurship and the history of fishermen who head out to sea and give it their all. "It's that spirit that I felt was relived in Mark's story, so the piece is really about inspiring that," Parsons said. "It's about bringing people together," said Beth Falconer, the executive director of 3S Artspace. "It's uplifting. It's a fresh perspective." The sculpture serves as a reminder of the community's history and those in it while offering a new landscape to the city.

Prescott Park

The sculpture is carved made from a 5-ton block of Italian madora red granite and weighs about 600 pounds. It stands 43 inches tall, 30 inches across and will be set about an inch underwater so it appears to be floating. “There will also be a different approach to the fountain spray aspect where the water will be made to the motion as if a light breeze is blowing over the water’s surface,” Michael Warhurst, whom the piece honors, said. Richard Erdman was born in Princeton, New Jersey, in 1952. He studied at the University of Vermont, where he received an Honorary Doctorate of Letters in 2016.

Prescott Park

Hovey Memorial Fountain dedicated to Charles Emerson Hovey, an Ensign in the United States Navy and Portsmouth, NH native, who was killed in action on September 24, 1911. Named in honor of Charles Emerson Hovey (1885-1911) who died an ensign in the US Navy, killed in action in the Philippines. The statue of Neptune came from a palace in Sienna, Italy. Given to the city in 1912 by Hovey's mother and moved to Prescott Park in 1974. The fountain formerly stood on the corner of State and Pleasant Streets next to the old custom house and post office.

Portsmouth

In 1768, Ruth Blay, a 31-year-old teacher from South Hampton, was tried, convicted, and publicly hanged for concealing the body of her illegitimate baby. Deciphering the Art Ruth Blay stands tall and looks straight at the viewer. She steps forward suggests self-assuredness. She is modestly dressed, with her neck exposed to suggest her vulnerability. She is pregnant, and her left hand supports the roundness of her belly. A rope is repeatedly coiled around her belly to emphasize her pregnancy and reference the umbilical cord and the connection to her stillborn baby. The looped rope loop references the noose of her hanging and suggests her sexuality. Her right hand is outstretched and extends to the viewer a request for understanding and compassion given her situation and the laws of the era. This hand calls into question the testimony of her enemies, who she states bore false witness against her and in God’s judgment, they “will answer it another Day.”

African Burying Ground Memorial

Many in the community wondered how Portsmouth's African Burying Ground could have been forgotten. During the 1700s when the Burying Ground was actively used, the area that is now Chestnut Street was the undeveloped outskirts of town. Over time, as Portsmouth grew during the late 1700s and throughout the 1800s, the African Burying Ground was paved over and built over and many forgot about its existence. Today, we recognize this important place as the only DNA-authenticated African Burying Ground in all of New England that dates to this era. When the site was accidentally uncovered in 2003, the Portsmouth City Council appointed the African Burying Ground Committee and asked the group to determine how best to honor those buried on Chestnut Street. Completed in 2015, the location of this sacred place – like the City’s other places of burial – but with a public place of reverence on this block of urban downtown street, in perpetuity, so that we will never again forget those buried beneath.