Water Ways

Part one of an essay on Portsmouth's relation to the water

Not a Beach Town

Equidistant from Portsmouth are York Beach to the north and Hampton Beach to the south (11 miles each according to Google Maps). Between them can also be found the smaller and closer beaches of Seapoint in Kittery, Great Island Common in Newcastle, and Jenness Beach in Rye. The Portsmouth Chamber of Commerce lists no fewer than ten beach attractions in its visitor information page of parks and beaches. For all those beaches around and the actual Atlantic being under four miles away, Portsmouth is not a very beachy town. People are not walking around town in bathing suits and towels. While it can be seen, it is not often that a car full of kids with boogie boards unload in the neighborhood. Unless you’re a surfer, the beach seem to be more a place to bring your dog in the evening or have a romantic getaway under the moon on a summer night.
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One of the big reasons for the lack of beachgoing by the people of Portsmouth is likely the water temperatures. In the map on the picture to the right, it shows that on August 11th the water temperatures below the Cape are solidly in the seventies (yellow) while those above the Cape are in the low 60s (green). While the Ocean Circulation Conveyer Belt ( 2.8 MB downloadable animation) brings warm water up from the equator on the North American side of the Atlantic and cold down the European, it takes an inconvenient detour around the Gulf of Maine. Additionally, according to an article written by Tom Bell of MaineToday.com the flow of the great conveyer belt is blocked by Georges Bank, which is a plateau that rises off the seafloor. Bell goes on to point out that the the moon and the major differences between high and low tide in the Gulf of Maine create a churning action which brings cold water from the deep to mix with the warm water on the surface. So thanks to the Georges Bank and those famous tide changes, the water around here is unlikely to move much above a chilling sixty degrees.

Another possible deterrent for the people of Portsmouth to hit the beach is the ambiance and/or psychological distance of the bigger beaches with amenities that accommodate a day at the beach, i.e. York and Hampton. Driving along the coast in Hampton, the feeling that it has seen better days is hard to escape. The wall protecting the road from the ocean is dirty grey, crumbling and obtrusive. One the ocean side of the wall a thick ring of small boulders prevents easy access to the sand so that, at high tide, there is hardly any sandy beach there to enjoy. There are drainage pipes that run foul looking water out to the sea. And the strip mall of arcades and tee-shirt shops seems to lack a basic sense of taste.

One might blame the condition of Hampton Beach on the cold water and it's damping effect on high-end tourism. Possibly, New Hampshire’s lack of state income tax could be at fault. After all, with such a small stretch of coastline, one might think another state would prize it’s beach and make sure it is presentable. Then again, perhaps it is a problem of geography.

According to a report commissioned by the Town of Hampton and New Hampshire’s Department of Resources and Economic Development the beach originally was leased and developed by the Hampton Beach Improvement Company (HBIC). At first, in the late 1800's, an attractive community was built up for urban dwellers escaping from the city. However, growth is said to have been mismanaged, allowing every available plot to be filled, regardless of the value that construction brought aesthetically and economically to the community. During the Great Depression, the State of New Hampshire became guardian of the beaches and made improvements including a boardwalk. However, the tourism market "shifted” over time and further decline of the area ensued.

What was this shift in the tourism market? One event that forever changed the shape of tourism on the coastal North East was the development of Interstate 95, under the Eisenhower Administration. The Interstate system would eventually connect from Maine to Florida as one enormous superhighway, not only diverting traffic from Route 1, but also allowing people to commute to commercial centers from much greater distances. According to Peter Evans Randall’s Hampton: A Century Beach of Town and Beach, after World War II, the State was bent on creating a “seacoast turnpike” and the New Hampshire Turnpike Authority was created. The plan was opposed by Hampton businesses speculating that it would cut into their revenues. In the late Forties, the toll highway was built, although for some time there was no Massachusetts highway to connect it with and it dumped back onto Route 1 in Salisbury.

After the highway was built, bypassing Route 1 and Hampton, local businesses reported a 40% decline in revenue the first Fourth of July weekend it was open in 1950. However, by 1963, the traffic back up above pre-I95 levels and the clogging the route and threatening business. The new traffic, however, was attributed not to tourism but to a growing local population. Not only was the local population growing because of the greater ease of commuting, but also because people were starting to take advantage of the cheap rents offered by rental managers. From September through April, the low rents attracted a whole new population who in turn enrolled their children in the schools, further establishing the residential base. In the aftermath of the highway, Hampton Beach had converted from an economy dependent on tourism to one equally reliant on the residents and businesses serving those residents, leaving only a shadow of original community and vision.

York Beach on the other hand has some of the taste that Hampton is lacking, although the general state of the housing along the beaches also suggests there were better days. While the roadside is crowded, there isn’t the line of t-shirt shops and arcades. Their beach also has a bit more sand and there is no oppressive seawall. For one reason or another though, Portsmouth folk don’t seem to like to cross the bridge into Maine. People will move from Portsmouth to Kittery, expecting that their friends will occasionally make the jaunt out their house and be wrong. Despite the somewhat arbitrary boundary of states, by the time you get to Kittery Point, you might as well be in northern Maine. Go into Frisbee's Market and listen to how folks talk—it’s not what you hear in Provisions.

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Part II coming soon ...

Tags:Portsmouth, NH