The Sea Level Rise Initiative is fighting to keep history above water.

Before Portsmouth was settled, Puddle Dock was a tidal estuary. By 1900, the inlet had been filled in to create additional land for the city’s growing populations. Now the sea is returning.

Five of the Museum’s historic structures—Shapley-Pridham, Sherburne, Lowd, Penhallow-Cousins, and Jones Houses—are extremely vulnerable to sea level rise and are experiencing deterioration due to salt water infiltration during storm surge and astronomically high tides. 

As a member of an advisory committee for the Climate Change Vulnerability Assessment on Historic Portsmouth, Strawbery Banke has joined with the City of Portsmouth to seek a solution to this increasing threat. The Museum and the City have partnered on educational and awareness efforts, including the Water Has a Memory: Preserving Strawbery Banke and Portsmouth from Sea Level Rise exhibit, which was on display in the Rowland Gallery from 2021-2024, and by hosting the Keeping History Above Water national symposium in May 2023. Additionally, the Museum is the focus of a University of New Hampshire study examining the vulnerability of coastal resources. 

Philanthropic support plays a key role in saving these buildings and in continuing the public awareness efforts showcasing how science and history work together in the services of preservation.