back

Colonial Meetinghouses Featured in this Project

next
 

  • Star Island, New Hampshire (1800)   (GPS location N 42.976421, W 70.6139 )

  • Gosport Meetinghouse Name of Meetinghouse:   Gosport Chapel

    View on a map

    Street Address of Meetinghouse:   on Star Island, Isles of Shoals, New Hampshire
    Year(s) Built:   1800
    National Register of Historic Places Designation:   ?
    New Hampshire State Register of Historic Places:   ?
    Organization responsible:   Star Island Corporation
    Organization's address:   Morton-Benedict House, 30 Middle Street, Portsmouth, NH 03801
    Organization's web site:   Star Island
    Town Information:   n/a
    Tax status:   501(c)(3) - tax exempt

    Contact:   Star Island Office
    Telephone:   (603) 430-6272
    E-mail:   none

    This page was last updated on:   January 19, 2010  
     

    Acknowledgements: The following text has been taken in part from the book Colonial Meeting-Houses of New Hampshire, published by Eva Speare in 1938, which is now in the public domain.

     

    Gosport Meetinghouse Before the mainland of New Hampshire was settled by white men, the English fishermen used the Isles of Shoals for a summer colony about 1575. Later, a fishing village of 600 inhabitants was formed on Star Island, and was called Gosport.

    Several meetinghouses were built, only to be burned by the ungodly fishermen, according to tradition. In 1800, a stone chapel was erected with its interior furnishings made from the timbers of a Spanish shipwreck. The village has disappeared, and, except for the grass-grown cemetery, all traces of the former settlers are lost. Many monuments mark historic sites, memorials to those who once lived on the islands. Above them all, the little stone chapel guards the graves of the forgotten people.

    Today, Star Island is home to a large summer retreat center, which is run by the Star Island Corporation.




    Gosport Meetinghouse 101d_gosport_sunrise
    115a_gosport_lantern_holders