Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XIII.djvu/755

 POKTSMOUTH 735 uge, and the rise of the tide and strength of the current keep it always free from ice. The principal entrance is between the mainland and the E. side of Great island, and is defended by Fort McCleary on the former, and Fort Con- stitution on the N. W. point of the latter. The United States navy yard is on Continental or Navy island, on the E. side of the Piscataqua, within the limits of the town of Kittery, Me. It has extensive ship houses, one of which is 300 ft. long, 131 ft. wide, and 72 ft. high; large sheds for timber, a rigging loft, machine shop, &c. The balance dry dock is 350 ft. long by 105 ft. broad, and has 24 pumps worked by two steam engines. The value of the foreign commerce of the district for the year ending June 30, 1874, was $41,568, almost entirely imports. The number of entrances was 54, tonnage 9,794; clearances 62, tonnage 9,369. The number of vessels belonging in the district was 74, tonnage 14,502. The manufactures are of considerable extent, and include cotton fabrics (Kearsarge mills, with 26,000 spindles), hosiery, ale and beer, boots and shoes, car- riages, medicinal cod-liver oil, copper and brass foundery products, sleighs, soap, leather, &c. Ship building is also carried on. There are four national banks, with an aggregate capital of $950,000 ; a trust and guarantee company, with a capital of $200,000 ; and two savings banks, with deposits to the amount of $2,750,- 000. Sessions of the United States courts for the district of New Hampshire are held here. The public schools comprise separate high schools for boys and girls and 13 grammar and primary schools, of which part are graded and part ungraded. There are also a commercial college and a young ladies' seminary. The Portsmouth Athenaeum, with a fine three-story brick building, has a reading room, a library of more than 11,000 volumes, and cabinets of minerals and natural history. The mer- cantile library association has 2,000 volumes. Two daily and three weekly newspapers are published. There are 10 churches, viz. : Bap- tist, Christian, Congregational, Episcopal, Free- will Baptist, Methodist, Roman Catholic, Sec- ond Advent, Unitarian, and Universalist. Portsmouth was settled in 1623, incorporated as a town in 1633, and as a city in 1849. It was the capital of the colony and state till 1807, except during the revolution, when the seat of government was at Exeter. PORTSMOUTH, a city, port of entry, and the county seat of Norfolk co., Virginia, on the W. bank of Elizabeth river, opposite the city of Norfolk, with which it is connected by ferry, and at the terminus of the Seaboard and Roa- noke railroad ; pop. in 1850, 8,122 ; in 1860, 9,496; in 1870, 10,492; in 1875, 13,598, of whom 4,120 were colored. It is on level ground and is regularly laid out. The harbor is one of the best on the Atlantic coast, and is accessible by the largest vessels. Gosport at the S.^ ex- tremity of the city is the seat of a United States navy yard, dry dock, and naval hospital. Lines of steamers run to Boston, Providence, New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washing- ton, Richmond, and other points. The princi- pal shipments in 1874 were 242,551 bales of cotton, 9,968,400 ft. of lumber, 2,180,000 oak staves, 57,253 barrels of naval stores, 13,869 tons of pig iron, and about 300,000 barrels and boxes of early vegetables, valued at $1,250,000. There is a considerable wholesale trade in coal, fertilizers, groceries, and liquors. The princi- pal manufactories are one of cars, one of car- riages, one of barrels, a grist mill, and two saw mills. There are two banks, an insurance and banking company, three hotels, two acad- emies, 12 public and 41 private schools, a daily newspaper, and 13 churches, viz.: 4 Baptist, 2, Episcopal, 5 Methodist, 1 Presbyterian, and 1 Roman Catholic. PORTSMOUTH, a city and the capital of Scioto co., Ohio, on the Ohio river, just above the mouth of the Scioto, at the terminus of the Ohio and Erie canal and of a branch of the Marietta and Cincinnati railroad, 80 m. S. of Columbus, and 85 m. E. S. E. of Cincinnati ; pop. in 1850,4,011; in 1860, 6,268; in 1870, 10,592 ; in 1874, 13,034. It is built on a plain of moderate extent, partly enclosed by hills, is lighted with gas, and has Holly water works, an opera house, masonic temple, and two odd fellows' halls. It is the entrepot of the rich mineral regions of southern Ohio and north- eastern Kentucky, and the numerous iron furnaces are supplied by its trade. The Sci- oto valley is a productive agricultural district. Two projected railroads are expected largely to increase the importance of the city, the Portsmouth and Pound Gap, extending to Port Royal, S. C., and the Scioto Valley line. Portsmouth contains two rolling mills, three founderies, a manufactory of agricultural im- plements, a hub factory-, two planing mills, a saw mill, two freestone saw mills, three large furniture factories, four breweries, a distil- lery, three flouring mills, &c. There are five national banks, a savings bank, seven build- ing associations, graded public schools, three weekly (one German) newspapers, and Bap- tist, Christian, Episcopal, Methodist, Presbyte- rian, Roman Catholic, and other churches. PORTSMOUTH, a fortified port of Hampshire, England, on the S. W. extremity of the island of Portsea, 68 m. S. W. of London ; pop. in 1871, 113,569. It consists of two towns, Ports- mouth proper and Portsea, separated from each other by a small creek or arm of the sea, but united in one complete fortress. The number of places of worship in 1872 was 56, of which 19 belonged to the church of England. One of them was originally erected early in the 13th century, and dedicated to St. Thomas a Becket, but the chancel is the only part left of the an- cient building. A force of 13,000 men would be necessary to man the fortifications, but the usual garrison consists of about 2,500. The chief importance of the place is derived from the royal dockyard, which is at Portsea, N. of