IN 1622, TWO Englishmen, Capt. John Mason and Sir Ferdinando Gorges, were granted a vast area of land that comprised much of what are now the states of Maine and New Hampshire. They created the Company of Laconia to oversee their interests.
IN 1623, A SMALL commercial fishing operation was established near the mouth of the Piscataqua River on what is now Odiorne Point in Rye, New Hampshire. It was known as Pannaway, Pannaway Plantation, and Fort Pannaway. This venture was the origin for the histories of both Portsmouth and Rye,…