Stratham Heritage Commission

04/09/2026

Don’t miss this story of the many faces of farming in Stratham over 4 centuries.

07/10/2025

All over the country efforts to preserve our history will end, and untold numbers of dedicated, educated experts will be out of work.

Trump has proposed slashing funding for the federal Historic Preservation Fund and his administration hasn’t yet released the $188 million that Congress appropriated for the fund for the 2025 fiscal year

02/22/2025

Childe Hassam in Stratham program video is now available here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NBZ22o1Ax7o
A professional video recording of the Heritage Commission’s recent public program is now available for free on Exeter’s Public Access TV YouTube channel. “An American Impressionist in Stratham: Childe Hassam’s Pastoral Views” features American art expert Monica Reuss speaking about the arc of Hassam’s career and the importance of his place in early 20th century art; followed by Heritage Commission chair Nathan Merrill, explaining how such a famous artist came to spend time in Stratham. He then shares images of 30 Hassam works that were completed in Stratham between 1900-1918, along with contemporary photos of many of the same viewpoints.

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02/17/2025

The Stratham Heritage Commission mourns the loss of Florence Chisholm Wiggin, a beloved and invaluable member of the Commission. Flossy was an effective advocate for historic preservation and was, in herself, a part of aStratham history.
Calling hours will be at the Stockbridge Funeral Home, Exeter, on Thursday, February 20th, 2:00 -5:00 PM. The funeral will be held at the Stratham Community Church on Friday, February 21, at 11:00 AM. The family requests that in lieu of flowers donations may be sent to the Donald Wiggin Memorial Scholarship at Exeter High School and/or Stratham community Church.

02/05/2025

Make your plan to attend our program this Friday evening!

01/09/2025

02/02/2024

Friday, Feb. 16, 7:00 PM. Stratham Firehouse.
RICHARD SCAMMON FARM
Stratham’s National Historic District.https://www.strathamnh.gov/sites/g/files/vyhlif5051/f/uploads/scammon_farm_program_overview.pdf

10/21/2023

SCAMMON FARM HISTORIC DISTRICT NAMED TO NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
We learned this week that Scammon Farm Historic District in Stratham has been listed to the United States Secretary of the Interior’s National Register of Historic Places. This achievement is the result of the initiative and work of our Heritage Commission. Located along River Road between the Squamscott River and Portsmouth Avenue – which was called “the King’s Great Highway” when in was laid out in 1681 – Scammon Farm Historic District includes well-preserved nineteenth and twentieth century houses, outbuildings, farmyards, fields and wooded conservation land. Farming was the main focus of Stratham’s economy with more than 90 farms operating in the late nineteenth century. Scammon Farm’s more than 150 acres of tilled fields, hayfields, orchard, pasture for oxen, cows and sheep, and unimproved wetland and woodland made it typical of a prosperous New England farm. Read about the property here. Thank you to our Heritage Commission for helping to protect and bring attention to this tremendous space.

07/15/2023

Rebecca Mitchell Receives Statewide Preservation Award for Work with Stratham Heritage Commission

The Preservation Alliance has honored Rebecca Mitchell for outstanding leadership in preservation planning, advocacy, and education. As a long-time member of the Stratham Heritage Commission, Mitchell has set a new standard for local advocacy and engagement, according to the Preservation Alliance. “She is both visionary and practical, savvy about communicating effectively, and incredibly energetic,” said Jennifer Goodman, executive director of the N.H. Preservation Alliance.

During her tenure, the Commission helped preserve and protect some of the town’s most vulnerable historic buildings, raise awareness, increase appreciation, and celebrate the community’s rich heritage. Goodman noted that Mitchell and her colleagues not only used existing historic preservation tools, but also are at the forefront of the preservation planning movement in their use of preservation easements and overlay districts, like the land use control designed to protect agricultural character while balancing business and residential needs on Portsmouth Avenue/Route 33 recently adopted by the Town.

At a local presentation last month that followed a statewide announcement event, Senator Debra Altschiller presented a New Hampshire Senate Resolution in recognition of Mitchell’s service, and colleagues offered remarks. Stratham Selectboard Chairman Mike Houghton emphasized Mitchell’s wisdom; and Nathan Merrill, chair of the Stratham Heritage Commission spoke of her effective collaborations with other land use planning committees and town staff. He noted that the Commission’s many recent accomplishments “would not have happened without Becky’s efforts to lead the Heritage Commission to achievable goals under a well-defined mission, and without her success in building the Commission’s reputation in the broader community.”

Mitchell credited her many teachers and supportive selectboard members in her comments and emphasized that heritage commissions are more than just guardians of history. “Heritage commissions offer opportunities for positive change,” she said. People that Mitchell has learned from and mentored from other seacoast communities also attended to celebrate her work.

This award is part of an annual Preservation Alliance program begun in 1989 that recognizes outstanding leaders, rehabilitation and restoration projects and educational initiatives around the state.

The New Hampshire Preservation Alliance supports and encourages the revitalization and protection of historic buildings and places which strengthens communities and local economies. Information on varied preservation topics, planning grants and more is available at www.nhpreservation.org.

05/24/2023

https://blackheritagetrainh.wufoo.com/forms/k103pldf0xhzpua/?fbclid=IwAR06oaOwHnne70UhclNNdnuDrZ-0iJ4RgcOqsVYT_1008a2G6zIOhkctTuc

Saturday, June 10| Bus Tour to Canterbury Shaker Village | Canterbury, NH $45 per person (including bus pickup) $35 per person (not including bus pickup) By the beginning of the nineteenth century, Europeans and Africans living in America joined with Native Americans, creating plant-based therapies....

05/09/2023

Many thanks to the volunteers of the Exeter Area Garden Club who plant and help maintain the Veterans Memorial Garden.

02/28/2023

The video of the Commission’s Feb. 17 program, “Stratham Then and Now,” is now available:

The Stratham Heritage Commission presents “ Stratham Then and Now” on Friday, February 17. Over 120 years ago Richard Scammon’s “Down the King’s Great Highwa...