Rand generally had one of his children with him. Portsmouth Harbor Lighthouse (also known as Fort Point Lighthouse, New Castle Lighthouse and Fort Constitution Lighthouse) was first established in June 1771, making it the first light station north of Boston in the American colonies. The characteristic of the light has been fixed (steady) green since 1941. At the time it was built, the focal plane height was reported as 68 feet, but the . Biddeford, Maine … He later built the original stone lighthouse at Robbins Reef in New York Harbor (1839). Portsmouth Harbor Lighthouse (also known as Fort Point Lighthouse, New Castle Lighthouse and Fort Constitution Lighthouse) was first established in June 1771, making it the first light station north of Boston in the American colonies. Another storm in 1892 left huge rocks blocking the entrance to the lighthouse. The laying of the last stone in August 1871 was followed by the installation of the lantern and other ironwork, and the lighting apparatus. The Coast Guard had all the lead paint removed from the exterior and interior of the tower, and it was then repainted. The granite came from the Goodwin Granite Quarry in Biddeford, Maine, and was supplied by the partnership of Gooch and Haines. The award was given for an inspection rating of 95 percent or better. The work of leveling the ledge began in the summer of 1870. Daniel Haselton and William Palmer were the contractors who carried out the work. Jim Pope, a native of Kittery, was one of the last Coast Guard crewmen before automation. In 1946 Elson Small became keeper. Her father usually had some kind of baked treat, such as bread pudding, cooling on a windowsill. Islands and Harbor - Visit the "Must See" Sites of Portsmouth & New Castle NH 5 reviews Over the course of approximately 2 hours, we’ll take you through the must-see most beautiful and interesting aspects of this city to learn about its rich and strange history as well as the weird foibles that make up Portsmouth and New Castles' culture. Contractor Winslow Lewis, a contractor who built many lighthouses, and mason Calvin Knowlton, a mason, surveyed the site and pointed out that the ledge hadn’t been leveled before construction began, and that small stones were improperly used to fill in gaps near the bottom. One option considered for a while in the late 1840s was the building of an iron-pile lighthouse similar to the ill-fated one at Minot’s Ledge in Massachusetts. Its light source was three copper oil lamps. The original tower remained standing while the new one was built. Portsmouth Harbor Lighthouse, New Castle: Address, Phone Number, Portsmouth Harbor Lighthouse Reviews: 4.5/5. The horn once ran for 18 straight days during a In February 1828, the sloop Aurora from Newburyport ran into Whaleback Ledge, and the Portsmouth Journal asked, “How many more wrecks must be made before Congress will make an appropriation for this object [a lighthouse]?”. Today’s 48-foot tower was built in 1878. According to a newspaper report, a “signal of distress was made from the light-house by his children, who were alone at the time, the mother being in this city, and though the watchman at the U.S. Hospital on Wood Island, Mr. James Andrews, and a fisherman named Wallace, went to the rescue, it was too late, as the unfortunate man had disappeared.” Keeper Barr was said to be a Prussian by birth. An 1850 inspection reported that some repointing was done around the base and that the lantern and dome had been painted inside and out. A boat was dispatched to rescue the Rands, and they were taken to New Castle. foggy stretch in 1961. His boat drifted for six hours before he was found by a Coast Guard cutter. The 1872 tower (left) next to the old 1830 lighthouse. The lighthouse later became a “stag” station with male keepers only, but the families of some of the early keepers lived in the tower. “This rock is favorable for erecting a breakwater in it,” they concluded, “in the most permanent manner, and, if so built, would entirely protect the foundation of the light-house from any exposure from the effects of the sea, and remain for ages to come.”. Parris wrote that the lighthouse had been “constructed without science or workmanship.” In one great storm on July 7, 1837, according to Parris, the shaking vibrations was were so violent that “some of the small stones of the tower were shaken out and fell upon the floors of the rooms, and articles of furniture were displaced by the motion of the tower.”. Copyright © 2013 Friends of Portsmouth Harbor Lighthouses. Fifth Auditor of the Treasury Stephen Pleasanton, in charge of the nation’s lighthouses, said in 1842 that he was “in daily expectation that the present building has been demolished by the sea.” Iron clamps were put around the foundation as reinforcement, but they soon broke away in winter storms. Portsmouth Harbor Light as it is known today, lies in one of the more historical New England sites, once occupied by the British inside Fort William and Mary. Another wave righted the boat and threw the pair into the ocean; again, Rand pulled his daughter to safety. General James Chatham Duane, engineer for the Lighthouse Board’s first and second districts, was involved with the design. That proved to have been a wise decision, as the vessel and its crew were never heard from again. In November 1871, Caswell proclaimed the new tower “perfectly safe” and noted that it didn’t even tremble in a storm. Authored by the ops manager for the Portsmouth Harbor Lighthouse, this is a thorough, accurate, and expertly-written effort. Restaurants near Portsmouth Harbor Lighthouse: (0.11 mi) Henry's Market & Cafe (0.96 mi) Salt Kitchen & Bar (1.04 mi) Latitudes Restaurant (2.22 mi) Beach Pea Baking Co (2.44 mi) Green Elephant; View all restaurants near Portsmouth Harbor Lighthouse on Tripadvisor $ Portsmouth Harbor Lighthouse Website » Also known as Fort Point Light or New Castle Light, Portsmouth Harbor Lighthouse is located off Route 1B, adjacent to the Fort Constitution Historic Site and Coast Guard Station. Portsmouth Harbor Light — also known locally as Fort Point Light — is the only mainland lighthouse on New Hampshire’s 18-mile seacoast. John Brooks of Kittery was the second assistant keeper from 1899 to 1915. White, the keeper, was waiting with a smiling welcome. Amee remained in charge until 1921, a remarkably long stay at a difficult offshore station. . A portion of earnings from "The Last Lightkeepers" will go to Friends of Portsmouth Harbor Lighthouses, to assist with preservation costs of Whaleback Lighthouse. We were founded in 2001 as a chapter of the American Lighthouse Foundation, and we are the stewards of two historic lighthouses near the mouth of the Piscataqua River: Whaleback Lighthouse in Kittery, Maine, and Portsmouth Harbor Lighthouse in New Castle, New Hampshire. John Albee of New Castle called it “hideous” and described it as a “corpulent length of stove pipe.” despite some early resistance to the style, the present tower is a handsome example of the durable, low-maintenance brick-lined cast iron lighthouses developed by the Lighthouse Board. One of Connie’s duties at Portsmouth Harbor Light was to fly weather signal flags, signalling mariners of storm or hurricane warnings. In early 2000 the American Lighthouse Foundation was issued a license to care for the lighthouse. 35 talking about this. White explained his general philosophy: “The government tolerates no excuses. The Portsmouth Herald described him as a “man of quiet tastes and generous disposition.”, Arnold B. The article described the difficulties the Coast Guardsmen sometimes had getting on and off the station. In 1998 the lighthouse was made “environmentally friendly” at a cost of over $73,000. Lighthouse is managed by Friends of Portsmouth Harbor Lighthouses, a chapter of the American Lighthouse Foundation. A lantern on a mast had been proposed at first but was deemed “impracticable.”. New Castle, NH The only lighthouse on the mainland of New Hampshire, Portsmouth Harbor Light (also known as Fort Point Light, New Castle Light, and Fort Constitution Light) was constructed in 1877 on the grounds of Fort Constitution, a Revolutionary War fortification. More wrecks followed in the ensuing years, including that of the Maine schooner Fame in October 1827. Lewis visited Portsmouth Harbor Light in 1842 and reported that the lighthouse was “an excellent piece of carpentry, and will bear favorable comparison with its more modern neighbors.” Lewis also offered the opinion that the “height of the tower might be advantageously reduced to 30 feet.” He pointed out that the light was not as important as it once was since the establishment of Whaleback Light in 1831. Maynard Farnsworth, an assistant under White since the 1920s, became the next Coast Guard officer in charge in 1941. Two Kittery resident, Walter S. Amee and Samuel Blake, reached Whaleback as the storm abated. Open for public open houses on Sunday afternoons, 1 to 5 p.m., from Memorial Day weekend in late May to Columbus Day weekend in October. When the Coast Guard took over operation of the nation’s lighthouses in 1939, keepers were given the option of joining the Coast Guard or serving out the remainder of their careers as civilians. White joined the Coast Guard in 1941, shortly before he was transferred from Whaleback to Portsmouth Harbor Light, New Hampshire. All Rights Reserved. His wife, Connie, described the view from the top of the tower in her book, The Lighthouse Keeper’s Wife: I looked down forty feet to the little white scallops of incoming tide washing over the rocks, caressing each one lovingly. In March 2003, the Friends of Portsmouth Harbor Lighthouse named Connie Small “Honorory Chairperson.”, You can read more about Connie Small here: Connie Scovill Small (1901-2005). The station was established in 1771 and was the 10th of 11 light stations established prior to the American Revolution. Ammunition taken from Fort William and Mary was used against the British at the Battle of Bunker Hill. $25,000 was appropriated for the building of a new tower, but the old one was refurbished instead. During the past, Lighthouse tours were only available during an open house sessions conducted by Friends of Portsmouth Harbor Lighthouse. In October 2009, the VRB-25 was replaced by a solar powered VLB-44 LED optic. The first keeper, at $500 yearly, was Samuel E. Hascall, and the lighthouse went into service on September 16, 1830. The great blizzard of March 1888 destroyed much of the remaining foundation of the old tower. The keeper’s house was relocated in the 1850s to a location near the remains of the Walbach Tower, a structure built in 1814 (near the present public parking area outside the gate to the Coast Guard staton). custom house in Newburyport, Massachuestts. Nearby Wood Island was utilized as a base for the construction project. I want to go to heaven,” just before she lost consciousness. In 1784, the tower was renovated and relighted. This fourth-order Fresnel lens once used at Whaleback is now at the Peabody-Essex Museum in Salem, MA. A gale in November of the same year left 2,000 tons of stones from the base of the old lighthouse around the new tower. Portsmouth Harbor Lighthouse In the 1600s, the British established Fort William and Mary on New Castle Island to defend the entrance to the Piscataqua River and Portsmouth Harbor. Congress had appropriated a sum of $1,500 in March 1827 for a lighthouse on the ledge, but that was plainly not enough money to build a lighthouse in such an exposed position. Joshua Card is buried at the Riverside Cemetery in New Castle. Courtesy of Chuck Petlick. Access to the rickety building was difficult in rough weather, so a new plan was devised. While one of the assistant keepers blasted the foghorn repeatedly in an attempt to get the attention of the men at a nearby lifesaving station, Amee launched the small lighthouse boat and managed to haul the drowning men aboard. One of the earliest known shipwrecks at Whaleback Ledge occurred in February 1733, when a schooner ran onto the rocks and suffered damage that eventually sank the vessel. Wrecks occurred around the mouth of the river with sickening regularity. White of New Castle, New Hampshire, son of the former keeper Leander White, succeeded Amee as principal keeper in 1921. Engineer I.W.P. Lobster was a staple, and peaches and cream were was a preferred dessert. The first Whaleback (called “Whales Back” or “Whalesback” in early records) Lighthouse was constructed in 1829–30. Bill S wrote a review Oct 2020. Welcome to the Friends of Portsmouth Harbor Lighthouses website! Amee had gone to sea as a young man aboard the Kittery-based schooner Eldorado. All Rights Reserved. In 1991, the Coast Guard found that the fog signal was causing structural damage to the tower, so they lowered its volume. He is the president and historian for the American Lighthouse Foundation and founder of Friends of Portsmouth Harbor Lighthouses, and he has lectured and narrated cruises throughout the Northeast and in other regions. The lighthouse was painted a reddish-brownish color until 1902, when it was painted white. Two more appropriations were made by 1829, largely through the efforts of New Hampshire Representative Ichabod Bartlett. A fourth order Fresnel lens (not the original one) remains in use, covered by a green acrylic cylinder. Station Established: 1771 A fourth-order Fresnel lens, displaying a fixed white light varied by more intense flashes every 90 seconds, replaced the earlier lighting apparatus in 1855. A cistern in the cellar held drinking water, brought from Sebago Lake 2,000 gallons at a time. Whaleback marks the approach to the harbor of Portsmouth, New Hampshire, and has often been referred to as a New Hampshire lighthouse, but this rugged granite tower is clearly is in Maine waters by about 1500 feet. When a navigational light at Odiorne Point in Rye, New Hampshire, disappeared in the fog, it was time to activate Whaleback’s foghorn. Apparently for a time in the early 1920s it was again painted reddish-brown. In spite of the light and fog bell, the area was still treacherous in bad weather. Amee went on to captain fishing schooners out of Salem, Massachusetts, and Portsmouth, New Hampshire, before brief stints as an assistant keeper at Boon Island, Maine, and White Island, New Hampshire. The Portsmouth Harbor Lighthouse stands tall near the mouth of the Piscataqua River, sharing the land with the old Fort William and Mary. Walter S. Amee became keeper at Whaleback in 1893. Three weeks later, Eugene S. Clark was walking on a beach in Sandwich on Cape Cod. A storm in 1886 sent waves smashing through a window of the tower, flooding the living quarters. The large, well-protected harbor of Portsmouth, New Hampshire, on the Piscataqua River, was an important port in colonial America. In February 1871, a Nova Scotian schooner ran onto the ledge in a blinding snowstorm. White’s dumplings were “an epicurean’s dream.” This praise has been echoed by White’s daughter, Marion White Petlick of Rye, New Hampshire, who fondly recalled visits to the lighthouse as a girl in a 2004 interview. They recommended that a breakwater be added on the eastern side of the tower, at a cost of $20,000. In April 1821, the schooner President, heading to Thomaston, Maine, from Boston, struck the ledge. The three men obviously had to have a congenial relationship in the confined quarters, and a 1911 article in the Boston Globe stated that they refused offers of positions at other Maine stations. Her father held her tightly and hung onto the boat. The lighthouse went into service on September 16, 1830. A fourth-order Fresnel lens was installed in 1855. The cast iron lighthouse was still rare in New England when the Portsmouth tower was built. The keeper who served the longest at the station was New Castle native Joshua K. Card, who retired at age 87 in 1909 after 35 years at the station. A 1957 magazine story reported that the Coast Guard keepers at Whaleback had two days leave between eight-day stays at the lighthouse. SPECIAL NOTICE: Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, open houses at Portsmouth Harbor Lighthouse are canceled until further notice. The tower is lined with brick, with and has hard pine floors, cast-iron staircases, and iron ceilings. Now a strong emphasis is place on fund raising, hoping to raise enough money for repainting. When Pope arrived at the station at the age of 19 in 1959, the men had 24-day stints on duty followed by six days off. An account of a 1733 wreck Whaleback marks the approach to the harbor of Portsmouth, New Hampshire, and has often been referred to as a New Hampshire lighthouse, but this rugged granite tower is clearly is in Maine waters by about 1500 feet. We … Most of the would-be rescuers opted not to get too close to the ledges in the heavy seas. Both sent their beams across the water. Friends of Portsmouth Harbor Lighthouses, a chapter of the American Lighthouse Foundation, is a 501(c)3 tax exempt not-for-profit organization, managed by a volunteer board of directors and a professional staff. The bell tower was described as a “frame structure, 25 feet high, whitewashed, standing upon the Light House pier, and attached to the southerly part of the Light House tower.” When needed, the bell was struck by machinery four times every minute. One of the men called to the keeper, pleading that for him to throw them a line. A Sunday visit to the Portsmouth Harbor Light, located at Fort Constitution in New Castle, NH. Arnold White was in charge when Justine Flint of the Portsmouth Herald described a visit to Whaleback Ledge in 1939: On arriving at the landing-stage of the light, Captain Arnold B. The tower was shortened to 55 feet in 1851, and the lighthouse was fitted with a fourth order Fresnel lens three years later. Arnold B. National Archives photo. The first tower was a shingled wooden structure with an iron lantern and copper roof. Whaleback Light can be seen from Fort Foster in Kittery, Fort Constitution, Fort Stark, and Great Island Common in New Castle, NH, Odiorne Point in Rye, NH, and other spots on both the New Hampshire and Maine sides. The process was slow, as it could only take place only at low tide. Portsmouth Harbor Lighthouse, late 19th century. The li ghthouse was erected on a conical granite pier, 42 feet in diameter at the bottom and 32 feet at the top. In 1878, a new cast-iron tower was built just to the north of the 1872 lighthouse to serve as a fog signal house. Jeremy D’Entremont is the author of more than 20 books and hundreds of articles on lighthouses and maritime history. Visit Friends of Portsmouth Harbor Lighthouses for more details. That lens was replaced in 1912, at the same time that a new I.O.V. The new 50-foot tower, 27 feet in diameter at its base, was constructed of granite blocks dovetailed together in similar fashion to Minot’s Ledge Light in Massachusetts and England’s Eddystone Light. The keeper’s house had not yet been moved to its present location. The keeper swam to his daughter and pulled to her to his side as he clung to the bottom of the boat. The 1912 lens is now in storage at the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, Massachusetts. In 1998, the Coast Guard had the lighthouse restored. It was said that up to that time, Amee had spent only 11 days out of sight of the lighthouse in 18 years. A chapter of the foundation, the Friends of Portsmouth Harbor Lighthouse, was founded to care for the lighthouse, the oil house, and the wooden walkway. The lighthouse exhibited two fixed white lights, one 10 feet above the other. Horizontal I-beams lend support for each of the four floors. Flint described the cellar as “scrupulously clean.” A walled-in window was used as a cupboard for food supplies. Today’s 48-foot tower was built in 1878. The work was done by Seacoast Diversified Inc., a contractor from Dover, New Hampshire. Portsmouth Harbor Lighthouse: Tickets & Tours‎ ... parking lot the coast guard station new hampshire nice view great improvement great place to visit falling apart american history lighthouse visitors gate battery tower remains. All contributions are tax deductible to the full extent allowable by law. The ledge, which is completely underwater at high tide, is, in fact, a continuation of the southern point of Gerrish Island. Haselton was a New Hampshire native who had built the Baptist church on Middle Street in Portsmouth. . Engineman Third Class Francis D. Hickey left to go ashore on New Year’s Eve in 1956, only to lose his power. Copyright © 2013 Friends of Portsmouth Harbor Lighthouses. Known as “the Castle,” the fort was manned by soldiers of the Province of New Hampshire that reported to … Keeper Leander White displayed a blanket from the tower as a distress signal. Some wooden sheathing added around the tower in 1837 apparently helped the leaking problem of leaks, but Hascall reported that the tower rocked and shook increasingly in storms. It can also be viewed from tour boats leaving Portsmouth. This photo, taken sometime between 1872 and 1897, shows the present keeper’s house in its original location, near the remains of a War of 1812-era Martello tower. Since 1906 it has been within the granite Civil War-era walls of Fort Constitution. …We could look up the Piscataqua River to Portsmouth, with its gleaming white belfry of North Church, a landmark for sailors, silhouetted against the sky. All seven men on board the Rouser died in the tragedy. Royal Governor John Wentworth told the Provincial Assembly in April 1771: A wooden lighthouse was soon established at Fort William and Mary on Great Island, in what is now the town of New Castle in Portsmouth Harbor, about a mile from the mouth of the Piscataqua River. A wooden lighthouse was soon established at Fort William and Mary on Great Island, in what is now the town of New Castle in Portsmouth Harbor, about a mile from the mouth of the Piscataqua River. Their cries for help were heard by Amee, who launched a boat and reached the men, then took them back to the lighthouse for the night. The 1831 tower remained standing while the new one was built. A barometer hung on the wall; the keepers were required to fill out weather reports every four hours. It was painfully clear that the tower had been poorly built; it leaked badly in storms and heavy seas. The lighthouse was transferred to the federal government in 1791, and in 1793 President George Washington ordered that the light be maintained at all times, with a keeper living on site. The remains of the original lighthouse were torn down in 1880. . In September 1849, his 15-year-old daughter, Elizabeth Jane, spent three weeks at the lighthouse with her father. The lighthouse consists of 44 stairs that lead up to the Watchroom, a circular room with three portholes. Pope enjoyed fishing around the tower, and he occasionally shot ducks from the lighthouse’s windows. It was reported that her strong attachment to her father led her to return to the lighthouse with him that same afternoon, rather than recover with strangers in New Castle. If you’re interested in being part of the effort to restore and preserve this lighthouse, email info@portsmouthharborlighthouse.org. A wooden lighthouse was soon established at Fort William and Mary on Great Island, in what is now the town of New Castle in Portsmouth Harbor, about a mile from the mouth of the Piscataqua River. Somehow the 1831 tower survived for more than 40 years. Elizabeth muttered, “Father, do I not love you . That same year, the Coast Guard established a base at Fort Constitution and housed personnel in the former keeper's house. . The blaze was extinguished by the soldiers. Parris felt that a breakwater would afford little protection, and advised instead that a new lighthouse should be built for $75,000. Snow’s first drop was too far away for the keepers to recover. By the 1872 annual report, the new tower had gone into operation. Arnold White with his daughter Muriel at Whaleback. He found the package 90 miles from where it had been dropped. A ship’s medicine chest was also kept in this area. Testifying to the men’s exemplary work, the government awarded an efficiency pennant to the crew in 1938. The lens installed in 1912 had been manufactured in France by the firm of Barbier, Bernard, and Turenne in 1911. Storms in 1869 caused cracks in the tower and foundation, and a report stated, “The station should be rebuilt as soon as possible.”A new lighthouse tower was finally erected in 1872 for $75,000. Sunset Lighthouse Cruises from Rye, NH, on June 21 and 28, Five Lighthouse Cruise – September 24, 2016, Old Word Accordions: Gary Sredzienski in the Portsmouth Harbor Lighthouse, Spring Fling at the Kittery Lions Club on Saturday, April 4, 2020 – POSTPONED. At the time of the 1911at article, the men each spent four days on duty followed by two days on shore. It was reported that the lighthouse keeper looked out the window of the tower at 5:00 a.m. and saw a piece of the wreck, along with three men. In the fall of 2002 the rotating aerobeacons were replaced by a smaller VRB-25 optic. The lens rotated atop a new pedestal, on a groove filled with mercury. Snow reported that years later Clark still had the book that was in the package, Snow’s Storms and Shipwrecks of New England. . The cast iron segments were prepared in a Portland, Maine, foundry. His first assistant keeper for most of those years was John Wetzel of Portsmouth, who held the position from 1897 to 1924. His love for Portsmouth Harbor Light and sharing its history was apparent to us all. The American Lighthouse Foundation and its chapter, the Friends of Portsmouth Harbor Lighthouse, submitted an application. Keeper Joshua K. Card. Since then it has been white. It remains New Hampshire’s only deep water port. The vessel broke apart and the crew was lost. Jeremy D’Entremont is the author of more than 20 books and hundreds of articles on lighthouses and maritime history. As early as 1721 some concerned citizens of Portsmouth petitioned for a lighthouse, but repeated efforts failed. That schedule was often disrupted by rough weather and sea conditions. Strawberry Banke Museum photo. The principal keeper’s quarters were on the floor above the kitchen, and everything was neat and orderly with modest, the furnishings modest. In November 2008, it was announced that the Secretary of the Interior accepted the National Park Service’s recommendation that the American Lighthouse Foundation (ALF) be awarded ownership of the lighthouse. Captain White has lived in this solitary wind-swept setting for 18 years and once during that time when ice filled the Piscataqua in 1924 he was unable to go ashore for 14 days. The assistant keepers, working in the lantern room, couldn’t hear each other speak during the gale because the shaking of the apparatus was so violent. The lower light remained in operation until 1855. The grounds of Fort Constitution are open to the public during the day. Before they reached land, the apparently lifeless Elizabeth was revived. The 1903 oil house was abandoned for some years, but it was renovated in May 2004. The assistants at the time were Maynard Farnsworth and Warren Alley. He dressed and bandaged the woman’s injury, and a doctor later said that he had done the job perfectly. . It was the first light station established at a military installation of the British colonies of the present United States, the 10th of 11 light stations established in the colonies before the American Revolution, and the first lighthouse in the American colonies north of Boston. All contributions are tax deductible to the full extent allowable by law. A new 48-foot cast-iron lighthouse tower was erected in 1878 on the same foundation as the previous tower. The next level contained a small kitchen, “comfortable and cheerful, with good sized windows to admit air and sunshine.” The writer was amazed that the men were excellent housekeepers; the numerous brass articles were “kept as bright and glowing as a mirror.”. The 1871 annual report of the Lighthouse Board announced that the masonry had been completed to a height of 20 feet above the low water mark. A new 80-foot octagonal wooden Portsmouth Harbor Lighthouse was constructed in 1804, 100 yards east of the 1771 tower on a spot called Pollock Rock. He would be the station’s last civilian keeper. He recommended a substantial masonry tower similar to the early waveswept lighthouses in the British Isles. ’ t last, because their tastes were all different bell and tower had been installed at the lighthouse into. Snow ’ s only deep water port also built the custom house in Newburyport, Massachuestts difficult! 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