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About UsAbout the PearlHolding Functions
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In identifying sites for the Black Heritage Trail, The Pearl Street Church (now known as The Portsmouth Pearl) was recognized as the first Black owned church in the state. Due to its deteriorated condition in the past, the Friends of The Pearl™ was formed to help protect and preserve the building. Friends of The Pearl is a committee of the Portsmouth Black Heritage Trail and was responsible for coordinating the restoration project. The Pearl Street ChurchBecause of its location and condition, the Pearl Street Church was vulnerable to inappropriate redevelopment. Its facade restoration serves to stabilize and beautify a neighborhood that is slowly developing without succumbing to the displacement of gentrification. Our larger vision was to preserve a living landmark which will continue to honor past constituents and their legacy of service to the community. The Pearl Street Church is uniquely suited for this use because while the sanctuary is largely intact and is now used as a function hall, the building also contains two apartments and a meeting room. The Pearl Street Church bears witness today to more than 70 years of African American social and cultural history, linking present day African American residents to earlier Black residents who set up schools, mutual aid societies and scripture study groups to sustain their culture within a largely white society. One African American Portsmouth resident remembers the central role the Pearl Street Church played in Black society when he was growing up, "We didn't have our own barbershop. We weren't welcome in the local bars and nightclubs. If you wanted to see people, to find out what was happening, you went to church." The history of The Pearl Street Church is one of building community capital, of finding capacity within limited resources to create a visible presence, to make real a collective vision. As the only Black church in New Hampshire for more than half a century, the Pearl Street Church is a symbol of the accomplishments and struggles of African Americans in northern New England. Its preservation sends a message locally and nationally that New England recognizes the significance of the continuing participation of African Americans in the region's history and growth. Partnerships and CollaborationThe Portsmouth Black Heritage Trail, Inc. is a nonprofit organization devoted to preserving African American history and culture in Portsmouth and the northern New England region. The Trail's self-guided walking tour shows residents, schoolchildren and the thousands of tourists who visit Portsmouth each year, places where Black residents have lived, worked, prayed and celebrated for more than 350 years. These featured sites bring the stories to light and help visitors understand the significance and connection of African Americans to the region's culture and economy, and to the story of race relations in America. In its tour guidebook, interpretative site markers and comprehensive Resource Book, the Trail tells stories omitted from three centuries of white historical narrative. The Pearl was a historically significant landmark listed on the State Register Historic Places by the New Hampshire Division of Historical Resources and is one of more than two dozen designated sites on the Portsmouth Black Heritage Trail. The NH Land & Community Heritage Investment Program (LCHIP) is a state commission for the conservation of land and cultural resources throughout the state. The intent of the program is to conserve and preserve this state's most important natural, cultural, and historical resources, through the acquisition of lands, and cultural and historical resources, or interests therein, of local, regional, and statewide significance, in partnership with the state's municipalities and the private sector, for the primary purpose of protecting and ensuring the perpetual contribution of these resources to the state's economy, environment, and overall quality of life. Through a partnership with the Society for the Preservation of New England Antiquities (SPNEA) the rotted belfry was removed in 2001 and reconstructed on the grounds behind the Rundlet-May House, a house museum in Portsmouth's historic district. Boston University graduate students from the Preservation Studies Program worked during a Spring 2003 seminar led by Professor Richard M. Candee. They helped the Friends of The Pearl with special projects in communications, fundraising, project documentation, interpretation and business planning. The New Hampshire Preservation Alliance is a statewide nonprofit founded in 1985. It works to preserve New Hampshire's historic buildings, landscapes, and communities through leadership, advocacy, and education. Among the tools to achieve these goals, the Alliance holds both short-term and permanent preservation easements on historic properties, much like a Land Trust can hold conservation easements, to provide guidance and protection to private historic properties. The National Trust for Historic Preservation is a private, nonprofit organization, providing leadership, education and advocacy to save America's diverse historic places and revitalize our communities. The National Trust's Northeast Office coordinates the programs of the National Trust within the six New England states, New York, New Jersey, Delaware and Pennsylvania, providing a wide range of services adapted to the special needs of the Northeast. The National Trust provided early support to the Pearl by giving Portsmouth Advocates a Preservation Services Grant to complete the conditions survey. In May 2003 the 'Friends of The Pearl' won $6000 from their Johanna Favrot Fund for Historic Preservation for exterior historic paint research and to make detailed architectural drawings for baseline documentation and planning.
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The Portsmouth Black Heritage Trail, Inc. is a nonprofit organization committed to preserving African American history and culture. Beginning in 1996, the Greater Piscataqua Community Foundation has encouraged and supported our efforts, including funding the Trail's Resource Book, an overview of more than 350 years of Black history in Portsmouth that was placed in all the city's schools and libraries, and our original guide to the self-walking tour. Much of that story is available on-line, at