Portsmouth Athenaeum - Portsmouth, NH
Posted by: 
silverquill
N 43° 04.628 W 070° 45.463
19T E 356909 N 4770879
The Portsmouth Athenaeum is one of 10 Athenaeum membership libraries still in the United States. Established in 1817, it moved to the Federal style building, erected by the N.H. Fire and Marine Insurance Company in 1805, designed by Bradbury Johnson
Waymark Code: WM2R6V
Location: New Hampshire, United States
Date Posted: 12/12/2007
Views: 62
The Portsmouth Athenæum is a non-profit membership library and museum, incorporated in 1817 and located in the heart of historic Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Membership libraries were first created in the 18th century for the mutual edification of their members and to elevate the educational resources available in the community.
The name "Athenæum" was used by a number of societies established during the nineteenth century to describe institutions with broader aims than just a library. The term is derived from Athena, the Greek goddess of wisdom, and the classical temple of the arts and sciences named to honor her.
While there were once hundreds of membership libraries across America, there are now fewer than twenty left. The Athenæum today continues this long tradition of mutual improvement by maintaining a library of over 40,000 volumes and an archive of manuscripts, photographs, objects, and ephemera relating to local history. It also sponsors exhibitions, concerts, lectures, and other educational and cultural programs.
THE ATHENAEUM - PORTSMOUTH, NEW HAMPSHIRE
The mission of the Portsmouth Athenæum is to retain its tradition of serving as a locus of convivial interchange and intellectual discourse; to collect and preserve materials relevant to the study of the history of Portsmouth and the Piscataqua region; and to make these materials available to its Proprietors, to scholars, and to the general public.
THE ATHENAEUM - PORTSMOUTH, NEW HAMPSHIRE
Architect Bradbury Johnson
Placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973
Visit Instructions:As a suggestion for your visit log, please make every effort to supply a brief-to-detailed note about your experience at the Waymark. If possible also include an image that was taken when you visited the Waymark. Images can be of yourself, a personal Waymarking signature item or just one of general interest that would be of value to others. Sharing your experience helps promote Waymarking and provides a dynamic history of your adventures.