Eustis Estate
Portsmouth Street Scene
William H. Titcomb (1824–1888)
Portsmouth, New Hampshire, 1854
Oil on canvas
28 x 35 7/8 in.
Gift of Ralph May
1971.657
Because early religious leaders required that families reside near the meeting house, New England towns developed as a series of closely settled communities. Later, densely spaced older buildings at the core of many of these towns were surrounded by an outer ring of larger lots and wider streets like the ones depicted here. Today, this peaceful townscape is a busy intersection with a traffic light in downtown Portsmouth, New Hampshire.