Become a history detective in the Walsh House
The hands-on exhibit of the Captain Walsh House creates a fully immersive experience that brings the world of a sea captain and his family to life circa 1800. Unlike the Museum’s other furnished and exhibit houses, the Walsh House’s first-floor rooms are furnished with touchable, reproduction objects interpreting the home and life of a sea captain and his family circa 1800. Visitors are invited to sit at the dining table, lie on the bed, open drawers, and try on costumes to better understand everyday life in 1802 and draw connections between the past and present.
In 2019, Strawbery Banke Museum applied for and received an IMLS Museums for America grant for the Walsh House reinterpretation, which provided critical support to obtain reproductions for hands-on use, create an accurate period garden, develop new interactive programs, and evaluate the reinterpretation plan for further refinement. The Walsh House opened to the public for the 2023 season.
Over the past four years, Jonathan Brown, Strawbery Banke Director of Visitor Services and Project Manager of the Captain Walsh Reinterpretation Project, Maud Ayson, Implementation Consultant, Christine Ermenc, Executive Director of the Windsor Historical Society, Nicole Woulfe, Social Studies Teacher at Sanborn Regional Middle School, and a cross-departmental staff team, worked to install reproduction furnishing, textiles, and other household goods, recreate a period-appropriate garden, and develop programs for a wide range of audiences.
Strawbery Banke encourages visitors to become history detectives when entering the Walsh House. By investigating objects, opening drawers, reading journals and ledgers, and asking questions, they take an active role in learning about the family members and what their lives were like.
Located on Washington Street, adjacent to the Lawrence J. Yerdon Visitors Center, the Walsh House was built in c. 1796. It was named for sea captain Keyran Walsh, who owned the property from 1797-1807. Walsh, who lived in Portsmouth from 1782 on, captained ships and successfully traded in New Hampshire lumber and West India goods, traveling to ports around the Atlantic. While successful in his trade, Walsh was in a dangerous occupation, battling restrictive Spanish trade laws and trying to avoid the British Navy. In 1799, he lost his ship and her cargo after an encounter with a British man-of-war, and he died on a voyage from South America to Charleston, South Carolina, in 1807.
In 1969, the house was moved about 80 feet north of its original location and was placed on a new foundation. A bequest from Dr. Frederick Sanborn of New York City allowed for the house to be initially restored. For nearly a decade, the Walsh House was closed to the public. The Walsh House is open daily from May 1 through October 31 and is included with general admission.
The Captain Walsh House exhibit has been made possible in part by the Institute of Museum and Library Services.