Portsmouth
Portsmouth names 4 different subjects across the 6 encyclopedias on this shelf. Each is set out below.
Portsmouth the principal station of the British navy
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
the principal station of the British navy, a seaport, municipal and parliamentary borough of England, Hampshire, on the S. extremity the island of Portsea . It consists of the four_districts, Portsmouth proper, Portsea, Landport, and Southsea, Portsmouth proper is a garrison town. Portsea is the seat of the naval dockyard; Landport is an artisan quarter; and Southsea on the E. side of the town of Portsmouth is a favorite seaside resort. The island of Portsea, which is separated from the mainland by a narrow creek called Portsbridge Canal, is bounded on the E. by Langston Harbor, on the W. by Portsmouth Harbor, and on the S. by Spithead and the Harbor Channel. The royal dockyard covers an area of about 500 acres, and is considered the largest and most magnificent establishment of the kind in the world . It includes vast store houses, containing all the materials requisite for naval architecture; machine shops, with all modern appliances; extensive slips and docks, in which the largest ships of the navy are built or repaired; ranges of handsome residences for the officials, and a Royal Navy College, with accommodation for 70 students. Outside the dockyard an area of 14 acres contains the gun wharf, where vast numbers of guns and other ordnance stores are kept. Portsmouth has no manufactures of any consequence, except those immediately connected with its naval establishments , and a few large breweries. Its trade , both coasting and foreign, is of considerable extent. Of late years an extensive and systematic series of fortifications has been under construction for the complete defense of Portsmouth. They extend along a curve of about 1½ miles at the N. side of Portsea Island. A series of hills, 4 miles to the N. of Portsmouth, and commanding its front to the sea, are well fortified with strong forts. On the Gosport side a line of forts extends for 4 miles. The municipal and parliamentary borough includes nearly the whole of the island of Portsea. It sends two members to the House of Commons. Pop. (1917 ) 178,- 327.
Portsmouth a city and countyseat of Norfolk co.
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
a city and countyseat of Norfolk co., Va.; on the Elizabeth river, and on the Seaboard Air Line, the Chesapeake and Ohio, Atlantic Coast Line, and the New York, Philadelphia and Norfolk railroads; opposite seat of a naval hos- Norfolk. It is the pital and marine barracks, and in Gosport, on the S. E. edge of the city, is the Norfolk Navy Yard. The harbor is one of the best on the coast, and is accessible by the largest vessels. It has a steamboat line to Baltimore, and regular water connections with the chief coast cities of the United States. Here are street railroads, electric lights, an academy and seminary, the shops of the Seaboard Air Line railroad, etc. With NORFOLK (q. v.) Portsmouth was a naval station of great importance during the World War. Portsmouth exports large quantities of cotton, lumber, fruits, naval stores, etc. Pop. (1910) 33,190; (1920) 54,387.
Portsmouth a city, port of entry
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
a city, port of entry, and county-seat of Rockingham co. , N. H., on the Piscataqua river, and the Boston and Maine railroad ; 40 miles E. of Concord. The harbor is deep and commodious, and much used as a haven of refuge. Here are a United States life-saving station, a signal -service station, custom house, Children's Home, Woman's Asylum, etc. It has manufactories of cotton fabrics, hosiery, ale and beer, boots and shoes, carriages , copper and brass foundry products , leather, soap, gloves, etc. Here the "Peace of and Japanese representatives, at the suggestion of President Roosevelt, met in conference and signed a treaty of peace Russo -Japanese in 1905, concluding War (1904-1905 ). Pop. (1910) 11,- 269; (1920) 13,569. Portsmouth" was made when Russian g the
Portsmouth a city and countyseat of Scioto co.
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
a city and countyseat of Scioto co., O.; at the confluence of the Scioto and Ohio rivers, on the Ohio canal, and on the Baltimore and Ohio Southwestern, the Norfolk and Western, and the Chesapeake and Ohio railroads; 114 miles S. E. of Cincinnati. It is the center and shipping port of a large mining and agricultural region. Here are a public library, United States • government building, Old Ladies' Home, etc. The industrial plants include rolling mills, iron and steel works, shoe mills factories, lumber mills, planing , flour mills, foundries, fire fire-brick kilns, paper box factories, wheel works, and veneer works. Pop. (1910) 23,481; (1920) 33,011.
What Has Changed in the Last Century
Collier's called the English Portsmouth's royal dockyard "the largest and most magnificent establishment of the kind in the world" in 1921; it survived heavy German bombing in 1940-41, but shipbuilding there ended in 2014 and the base now serves mainly as home port to the Royal Navy's surface fleet, including the carriers HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince of Wales. Portsmouth, Virginia's Gosport yard is still the Norfolk Naval Shipyard, and Portsmouth, New Hampshire's yard still overhauls nuclear submarines, while the 1905 Treaty of Portsmouth remains the town's chief claim on the history books. The sharpest reversal is in Ohio: the Scioto-river city of rolling mills and shoe factories that had grown to 33,011 by 1920 peaked around 1930 and now holds roughly 18,000 people, its steel and shoe industries gone and the county better known since the 2000s as a centre of the American opioid epidemic. Portsmouth, England, still returns two MPs, as it did when Collier's wrote.
Written for this edition, 2026.