Courtesy of Rye Historical Society
As far back as ten thousand years ago Algonquin speaking peoples settled along the northeast coast of North America. Peoples of the Penacook Confederacy were prominent in the seacoast region, locally known as Piscataqua. 200 of them were settled at what is now Rye Harbor as noted by French explorer Champlain in 1608. The fatal contact with European diseases caused a great dying off of native peoples 1616-1619, before David Thomson, his family and indentured workers made the first permanent European settlement in New Hampshire in 1623 at what would later be called Odiorne Pt. for the family that settled there in the mid 1600’s. The point of land is located on the mouth of the Piscataqua river where a large estuary of seven rivers and Great Bay empty into the ocean. This area would soon become the hub of a thriving international maritime trade. Peoples of the Abenaki confederacy soon filled the population gap left by the Penacook.
Six miles off the coast lay the Isles of Shoals, nine islands where natives and Europeans fished and Europeans established settlements in the early 1600s. Fish drying operations were prominent on the islands and mainland.
Originally known as Sandy Beach, it became part of Strawberry Banke, (later Portsmouth), Great Island (New Castle) and Hampton. Dover and Exeter rounded out the other early settlements. Most of these early colonists were from Cornwall, Devon, Dorset and Somerset and other southern English counties as well as Yorkshire in the north. In the early 1620’s the Piscataqua seacoast region was the most viable and best supplied English colony in North America.
Due to the clash of very different cultures and broken treaties by the newcomers, relations between natives and colonial settlers declined over time and broke out in decades of war fare starting in the 1670s caused by imperial wars between Britain and France and their colonial and native allies respectively.
After years of petitioning the provincial assembly, Sandy Beach was granted the status of the parish of Rye in 1726 which included a church and minister and town officials. A more substantial church was built in 1756 with some ministers having a long tenure. Maybe 700 souls inhabited Rye by the time of the Revolution, including at least 19 enslaved people, two of whom were freed and fought with their former masters and died along with 37 others from Rye, a devastating blow to such a small town. In 1785 the parish was granted independent town status.
In the early 1800’s Rye thrived as farming and fishing community, exporting agricultural and lumber products to nearby towns and as far away as Boston. With the coming of the railroad in the 1840’s, Rye’s three pristine, crescent beaches began to lure tourists and soon there were eight hotels and 25 boarding houses at the height of the Victorian Era after the Civil War, a summer resort to rival Newport, Rhode Island. By the late 1800s the town had four neighborhood schools. With its strategic geographic location and proximity to the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, Rye has never been a provincial backwater. In 1874 the town was chosen as the terminus for the first successful trans-Atlantic international telegraph line. In 1899 the trolley came to Rye, connecting residents to the seacoast and beyond.
Rye began the 1900s with approximately 1200 people and that remained steady until the late 1930s growth associated with the military build- up in the area. 244 from Rye served in WWII. After the harbor jetties were constructed in 1940, working fishing vessels thrived after the war in the now protected harbor. In the 1960s the state of NH established two state parks, two state beaches and a state pier at the harbor. Rye town government grew considerably in the 1960s and the Rye Civic league was established. Housing developments partially changed the character of the town, but the meandering roads remain as do over 1100 houses built before WWII, including many former farmsteads with family graveyards. The Bi-centennial was the greatest three- day party the town ever threw and out of it was born the Rye Historical Society. The 1970s was a decade of grassroots citizen initiatives, including the 50 acres of public land known as Parsons Field and Woods. 30 housing developments sprung up between 1980 and 2000. The RHS town museum opened in 2002. In 2020 the population of Rye was 5500. Rye is fortunate that two thirds of the town is either fresh or salt water marshes.
Themes
a. native peoples
b. explorers and early colonists
c. establishment of parish of Rye 1726 and town 1785
d. fishing and farming
e. Rye harbor as import/export center
f. 1800s resort era with 8 hotels and 30 + boarding houses spurred by RR; slow decline
of farming
g. relation of Rye to Portsmouth – beaches, food, jobs, goods, entertainment, military.
h. pop. growth: c. 1900 – estim. 1200; c. 1950 – 2500, 2020 – 5500
i. impact of modern world on Rye – more Navy yard jobs, autos, mechanized farming,
growth of seacoast, commuters to Boston, etc.
j. history of housing developments
k. impact of wars over time from 1600s
l. commercial businesses in town
m. diversified jobs
n. religion
o. transportation/communication
p. social and civic life
q. Conflict over land ownership and increase in number of landless people
r. Civic Leadership or need for it.
s. Citizen Civic engagement
t. Class conflicts
u. Race
v. Progress and Regress
w. Changes in last 40 years with Rye becoming a less unaffordable town to live in
x. Impact of weather events, climate change
A Short History of Rye, New Hampshire (slightly longer)
It all began thousands of years ago when Algonquin-speaking peoples settled along the northeast coast of North America. Before the first European explorers made the fatal contact in the early1600s, there were many settled native communities including 200 members of a tribe living at present-day Rye Harbor in 1606 as reported by Champlain. Eight islands located six miles off Rye’s coast had become a fishing mecca for native peoples for years as well as Portuguese fishermen starting in the 1500s and by the early1600s European fishermen had established permanent settlements there that thrived until the 1800s.
In June 1623, David Thomson, his family and a few others landed at the mouth of the Piscataqua River, which empties seven rivers and the Great Bay estuary into the ocean. The landing place today is called Little Harbor at Odiorne Point. As to whether this first English settlement was permanent, it is uncertain given the scarce and contradictory written records of that time. Soon more English colonists came to what is now Foss Beach and the settlement was known as Sandy Beach. By the 1630s, the larger communities of Strawberry Banke (Portsmouth), Dover, Hampton and Exeter took root. Most of these early colonists were from Cornwall, Devon, Dorset and Somerset, England. In the 1620s the Piscataqua seacoast region was the most viable and well supplied English colony in North America. Sandy Beach soon became part of the towns of Portsmouth, New Castle and Hampton. Some of the early founding families were Berry, Brackett, Brown, Locke, Seavey and Odiorne. The Rye Historical Society website lists all founding families and much more information on town history. (www.ryenhhistoricalsociety.org)
After years of petitioning the provincial assembly, Sandy Beach was granted parish status in 1726 and included town government officials. The name was changed to Rye in honor of the Jenness family, who originally immigrated from Rye, East Sussex, England. A poorly built church and minister soon followed, neither of them lasted long. However, by the 1750s, both had been replaced by long-lasting successors. Approximately 800 souls inhabited Rye by the time of the Revolutionary War, including at least nineteen enslaved people, two of whom were freed and died in the war along with their former masters and 35 others from Rye. It was a devastating blow to such a small town. In 1785, the state of New Hampshire granted independent town status to Rye, although it took some time to sort out the borders.
The Garland Tavern (1756-1800) which stands today beside the war monument, was the most prominent of many in town. Two other early businesses that remain as private houses to this day are the 1805 Goss (later Rand) store at 2 Lang Road and the 1810 Goss (later Parsons) store at 1 Central Road. Blacksmiths and other trades had businesses scattered about town.
In the early 1800s, Rye thrived as a farming and fishing community, exporting to nearby towns and as far away as Boston. Many from Rye served in the War of 1812 and locals fought off a landing party from a British frigate in the Battle of Rye Harbor in 1814. Over the years, Rye and Portsmouth had established a close relationship as the former provided food and cooling beaches and the latter provided jobs, goods from inland and overseas and entertainment. In the late 1830s the religious revival sweeping New England resulted in three new churches being built in Rye center in just two years.
With the coming of the railroad in the 1840s, Rye’s three pristine, crescent beaches began to lure tourists. It became, a summer resort to rival Newport, Rhode Island, with eight hotels and 25 boarding houses at the height of the Victorian Era after the Civil War. The first was the Atlantic House (1846- 1862), the grandest was the second Farragut Hotel (1883-1975) and the Drake House Hotel (1873 – 1968) on Ocean Boulevard at South Road. It still stands today as an apartment building. The Ocean Wave hotel (dates?) also survived until it burned in 1960. The hotel empire extended to the Isles of Shoals with hotels on Appledore, burned 1914, and the Oceanic on Star Island, which remains today as a conference center.
During the Civil War, at least 86 Rye men served and at least two were killed in action, including Harrison Foye in 1863. A copy of the letter he wrote home before he died has been preserved at the Rye Town Museum. Fifteen who were drafted avoided service by paying a $300 bounty, requiring others to serve in their place. During the war, fishermen became exempt from military service, thus increasing the number of fishermen in Rye.
In 1873, Rye purchased the 1839 church on 10 Central Road and converted it to a town hall where many government and cultural functions have taken place ever since. These have ranged from, I town meetings, a theatrical production in 1895 entitled: “Freezing a Mother-in-Law,” and dancing, to church fairs, school graduations and musical performances. With its strategic geographic location and proximity to the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, Rye has never been a provincial backwater. In 1874, the town was the terminus for the first successful trans-Atlantic international telegraph line (until 1922). The 1875 cable station is now a private home. Rye continued to host many prominent people in its hotels including presidents.
By the end of the 1800s, there were four neighborhood schools: West (wooden structure) 1870s, South (brick) 1881, Wedgwood in Center (brick) 1893 and East (stone) 1896. Rye Consolidated School (Rye Junior High today) opened in 1934, replacing the four schools. The Rye Elementary opened in 1956. From 1934 until 1943, Rye was a college town with Stoneleigh College for women occupying the handsome former hotel by that name built in 1920. Later it was the Franciscan Friary, which was demolished in 1995.
In 1899, the trolley had come to town, connecting Rye’s growing population of 1,100 residents to the larger region. The completion of the basic road network including Ocean Boulevard in 1904 also stimulated growth and promoted the first housing development in the new Jenness Beach village district. By 1905, the Rye Beach Village district and Abenaki golf course was established. The coming of the automobile and the late 1930s military build-up was followed by larger post-war housing developments. But the great salt and fresh water marshes, the forest and fields and the meandering roads with their many old farmsteads and family graveyards remained.
Wars impacted Rye as thirty-six men served in World War I with three killed in action and a war monument erected to honor all veterans. The New Hampshire National Guard 197 th artillery unit had its two-week summer training in Rye at its camp off Cable Road during the 1920s and 1930ss. During World War II, the military took over Odiorne Point, demolished most of the summer homes there and established Fort Dearborn to protect Portsmouth Harbor and the Navy Yard. Pulpit Rock Observation Tower, being preserved today, was part of the defense. 244 Rye residents served in the war all over the globe, but Richard Goss was the only one who was killed, in a submarine in 1945.
The size of town government increased based on population growth with the establishment of planning and zoning boards followed in the 1960s by conservation, recreation, the historic district and other boards. The non-profit Rye Civic League was welcomed as an enhancement of citizen engagement. The state of New Hampshire established Odiorne Point State Park, the Rye Harbor State Pier and Jenness and Wallis Sands State Beaches. A new gym at the Junior High School gave the town needed large meeting space. Continued growth in the late 1970s saw escalating house prices and by the year 2000, more than thirty housing developments. In 1974, Rye helped defeat the proposal to build a large oil refinery in Durham that would have had a major impact on the town. The Bi-centennial in 1976 was a great three-day celebration and out of it was born the Rye Historical Society. Rye established the first trash transfer and later recycling center in the county. A movement to preserve open space led to the Parsons Park Corporation, saving 50 aces in Rye Center.
By the turn of the 21 st century the Rye Library and Junior High School had been expanded again and the Seacoast Science Center at Odiorne Point State Park and a new Fire/Police station were built and the town museum opened. By 2015, a town heritage commission was established and Goss Farm had become a community agricultural project. In early 2021, a solution to town employee space needs and the restoration of the town hall auditorium was found and plans were under way to commemorate the 400 th anniversary of the town’s European origins in 2023.
In spite of many changes over the four centuries of its history, Rye retains much of the beauty of the natural world along with hundreds of buildings of historical significance.
Courtesy of Rye Historical Society