New Hampshire's 18-mile Atlantic coastline is the shortest ocean frontage of any coastal state in the continental United States, but it packs a remarkable concentration of history, character, and economic activity into those miles. Portsmouth, the region's anchor city and one of the oldest continuously occupied European settlements in North America, was founded in 1623 and served as a colonial capital, a center of the maritime trade, and a naval shipyard city of national importance.
The Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, on an island in the Piscataqua River on the Maine border, has operated continuously since 1800, building and repairing submarines for the U.S. Navy and serving as one of the region's largest employers. Portsmouth's Market Square district is one of the best-preserved 18th-century urban streetscapes in New England, its colonial and Federal-era buildings now occupied by restaurants, galleries, and independent shops that make the city one of the most vibrant small cities in the country.
Strawbery Banke Museum, a 10-acre outdoor history museum on the site of Portsmouth's original settlement, preserves buildings spanning 300 years of Portsmouth life. Hampton Beach, the region's major resort community, draws millions of summer visitors to its wide sand beach, boardwalk, and amusement facilities.
Exeter, a colonial-era town 11 miles inland, is home to Phillips Exeter Academy, one of the most prestigious secondary schools in the United States, and served as New Hampshire's capital briefly during the Revolutionary War. The University of New Hampshire is situated in Durham, in the heart of the Seacoast region.
