some spooky Seacoast walking tours

Public executions, double agents, brutal murders, red light districts, ghostly apparitions and even tavern wenches: Portsmouth has had them all at one time or another. To learn about some of the spookier (and grittier) aspects of the region’s past, try a historical tour. Ranging from cemetery and lighthouse haunts to stories of daily colonial life to explorations of Portsmouth’s mysteries, there’s something for everyone in these interactive and fun history lessons.     

On a recent Saturday in downtown Portsmouth, Roxie Zwicker, owner of New England Curiosities Walking Tours, has just finished telling a crowd of 30 tour members about Jimmy La Panza and the $50 bill he leaves after having some drinks at the Portsmouth Brewery before disappearing into the night. He’s a ghost of course, an occasional haunt at the brewpub. “Old buildings like this one are known to be haunted by a spirit or two,” she says before telling of the ghost light that courteous employees leave on at The Music Hall and the Rockingham Resort’s “Lady by the Sea” spirit.

Zwicker’s Haunted Pubs of Portsmouth Walk is one of the newest additions to her seven Seacoast tours that cover historical attractions in New Castle and Portsmouth. The pub walk, which travels to several pubs and bars, tells tales of some of the ghostly inhabitants of the buildings, like the spectral figure in the basement of Molly Malone’s, or the places in Jack Quigley’s Pub where employees dare not go alone because of haunts. Zwicker also weaves in information about other businesses with ghostly proprietors, as well as some facts about Portsmouth’s beer production and consumption. (Did you know in the late 1800s, Portsmouth was a town with 6,000 people and 120 saloons?)

In July, writer Laura Pope and her partners launched The Underbelly Tour, an exploration of Portsmouth’s seedier history told by some of the town’s less than respectable citizens from the past, like Minerva the tavern wench and Silas the double agent. The tour winds through downtown Portsmouth and covers local events, such as the premature execution of Ruth Blay, the pirate governor, and the town’s busy red light district. “This isn’t your grandmother’s tour,” warns Pope. “A person who wouldn’t want to typically go on a tour would want to go on ours.”

The Underbelly Tour, which began in July, is unique in that the tour guides play the roles of some of Portsmouth’s seedier citizens. One such character is Silas Deanne, a prominent patriot during the American Revolution who was later accused of aiding the British. Or Minerva, based on a real 19th-century citizen and red light district employee. Or Clive the grave digger, who, though not based on any true resident, provides a humorous spin to the tours. “We wanted to reveal the history you don’t hear about,” says Pope. “People leave the tour realizing that Portsmouth was a rough and tumble kind of place.”

Strawbery Banke’s Ghosts on the Banke family event will be held Sunday, Oct. 30 and Monday, Oct. 31. The Halloween celebration provides plenty of historical spooky stories by allowing visitors to meet dead sea captains, shopkeepers, and wayward pirates of the 17th and 18th centuries. Children can trick-or-treat through Portsmouth’s oldest neighborhood, visiting witches, monster morgues, and a 6-foot-tall cornstalk maze. Other attractions include a visit and exploration of Strawbery Banke’s haunted inn and ghost stories in the old barn.

living history, if you dare

The Underbelly Tour:
Trollops, Spies, and Spirits, Oh My!
$8 per ticket purchased in front of Rusty Hammer, Pleasant Street, Portsmouth, prior to tour. Now on a reservation-only basis.
603-433-4730
www.underbellytour.com

New England Curiosities
Walking Tours
1-207439-8905
www.newenglandcuriosities.com
• Seacoast Superstitions & Witchcraft Tales In The Secret Garden
Sunday, Oct. 30 at 8 p.m.
$12 for adults and $8 for children under 12. Meets at the large fountain in Prescott Park, includes hot cider or hot chocolate.
• Haunted Pubs of Portsmouth Walk
Thursday, Oct. 27 at 7 p.m.; Wednesday, Nov. 9 at 7 p.m.; Saturday, Nov. 12 at 5 p.m.; Saturday, Nov. 19; at 5 p.m.; Thursday, Dec. 15 at 7 p.m.;
Friday, Dec. 23 at 7 p.m.
$15 per person; does not include drink or food. This tour is 21+ with positive ID.Tour meets in front of North Church. This tour also available for private functions and groups.
• Maritime Mysteries and Ghostly Lighthouse Lore Walk
Friday, Nov. 4 at 7 p.m.
$10 for adults, $8 for children.
Meets at Prescott Park in Portsmouth.
• Graveyards and Grave Tales Walk
Friday, Oct. 28 at 7 p.m. $15 for adults, $10 for children under 12.
Tour meets at Old City Hall next to Post Office in Portsmouth, arrive 10 minutes before tour starts.
• Legends, Ghosts and Graves Tour
Monday, Oct. 31 at 7 p.m. and 9 p.m.; Saturday, Nov. 5 at 8 p.m.
$15 for adults, $10 for children under 12. Tour meets at the North Church in Market Square.
• Haunted Lighthouses of the Seacoast Ghost Walk
Wednesday, Oct. 26 at 7 p.m.
$10 for adults, $5 for children.
All proceeds go towards lighthouse preservation for the Friends of Portsmouth Harbor Lighthouse.
Reservations suggested. Tour meets at Great Island Common, New Castle.
• Historic Portsmouth Legends and Ghosts Walk
Sunday, Nov. 6 at 5 p.m.,
Saturday, Nov. 12 at 3 p.m.
$10 for adults, $12 for children under 12. Reservations suggested. Tour meets at North Church.

All Souls Walk
Meet at the Brickhouse Store Museum to explore tales of Kennebunk residents from the past 250 years.
Saturday, Oct. 29 at 2 and 4 p.m.
$5 per person, payable at museum.
207-985-4802
www.brickstoremuseum.org

Ghosts on the Banke: A Family Event
Meet long dead sea captains, 17th century shopkeepers, and wayward pirates who haunt the streets and houses of Strawbery Banke in Portsmouth.
Sunday, Oct. 30 and Monday, Oct. 31, 5:30 to 8 p.m.
$6 per person, members free
Online tickets can be purchased until Thursday,  advanced tickets may be purchased in person until Sunday at 3 p.m. at the Visitors Center.
603-433-1100
www.strawberybanke.org