The coastal city of Portsmouth, New Hampshire suffered three devastating urban fires in the early 1800s. Collectively, they are known as the Great Portsmouth Christmas Fires because each one flared during the Yuletide season. The Great Parade Fire demolished the center of town on Christmas Night, December 26, 1802. The Great Bow Street Fire torched riverside warehouses and an historic chapel on Christmas Eve, December 24, 1806. The third and most catastrophic, known simply as The Great Portsmouth Fire, destroyed fifteen acres of the town’s commercial center on the night of December 22-23, 1813.‘The Great Portsmouth Christmas Fires’ identifies the sources of the three fires, describes the devastation they caused, and explains how civic measures to prevent future tragedies shaped modern Portsmouth. A map of the fires’ destruction and a walking tour through the heart of the rebuilt areas are included.
