Porstmouth Stone - Portsmouth, New Hampshire
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N 43° 04.588 W 070° 45.582
19T E 356746 N 4770809
Quarried in 1803, the Portsmouth Stone marked the departure point for the stage coach to Boston and the zero point for the Concord-Portsmouth stage route. It stands a few yards north of its original spot at Congress Street in Portsmouth, NH.
Waymark Code: WM14AP9
Location: New Hampshire, United States
Date Posted: 05/31/2021
Views: 2
Quarried in 1803, the Portsmouth Stone marked the departure point for the stage coach to Boston and the zero point for the Concord-Portsmouth stage route. It stands a few yards north of its original location at Congress Street in Portsmouth, New Hampshire.
The carved stone block is about 3 feet tall and 1 foot square. The lower 24 inches of its now west-facing corners are cut at a 45 degree angle and create a downward ledge. Three lines engraved down from the top of that face say "Portsmouth STONE 1803", though the lettering is very weathered, hardly legible, and damage at the lower left corner has deleted most of the "S". A fully round dome about 10 inches tall fills the marker's otherwise flat top. The milestone is set on a concrete base between two trees within a granite-curbed island along the now pedestrian Vaughn Mall. The original location was about 20 yards to the south as described on cast bronze plaque embedded to its supporting base:
HISTORIC PORTSMOUTH STONE
THIS STONE QUARRIED
IN PORTSMOUTH IN 1803, STOOD
AT THE CORNER OF VAUGHN AND
CONGRESS STREETS AND MARKED THE
DEPARTURE POINT OF THE STAGE COACH
TO BOSTON.
IT ALSO SERVED AS THE GENERAL POINT
FROM WHICH MILESTONES WERE SET
ALONG CONCORD - PORTSMOUTH STAGE ROUTE.