Exeter
Town Founded In 1638 That Served As New Hampshire'S Capital During The Revolution; Home Of Phillips Exeter Academy, Founded In 1781, And Of The American Independence Museum, Which Holds A Dunlap Broadside Of The Declaration Of Independence. · Exeter, New Hampshire
A small, handsome town on the falls of the Exeter River, where it turns into the tidal Squamscott, founded in 1638 by the Reverend John Wheelwright after he was banished from Massachusetts. During the Revolution, when royal Portsmouth was too exposed, the patriot government moved here, and Exeter served as New Hampshire's capital through the war years. Its brick Water Street runs along the river past the 1855 town hall and a white bandstand, with independent shops, cafes and restaurants, and Swasey Parkway gives a green strip on the riverbank. The town is best known for Phillips Exeter Academy, a boarding school founded in 1781 whose red-brick campus spreads west of downtown and includes a celebrated library by the architect Louis Kahn. The American Independence Museum, in two colonial buildings, holds a Dunlap broadside, one of the first printings of the Declaration of Independence, and hosts the American Independence Festival each July. Exeter has a stop on the Amtrak Downeaster, so it is an easy day trip without a car, and it is a calm, walkable base for the Seacoast.
Water Street, Exeter, New Hampshire, 03833, United States
The town, Water Street, Swasey Parkway and the Academy's outdoor campus can be walked at any time, all year. Shops keep normal daytime hours, many closed or short on Sunday and Monday, and restaurants open for lunch and dinner. The American Independence Museum is open for guided tours on a limited schedule, roughly late spring to autumn on several days a week, and closed in winter apart from events (confirm). Academy buildings are part of a working school and are open to visitors only in some areas and at some times; term, exams and holidays change access. The Gilman Garrison House opens only a few days a year. The Downeaster runs daily.