09/23/2026
Street view of a man (probably store proprietor Harry Brackett Jenness) standing in front of a one-story market identified through research as the Jenness Store on Willard Avenue, near the corner of Lafayette Road, Portsmouth, NH. Circa 1915
A banner above the market advertises "Ice Cold Tonic." The store appears to have been recently constructed, as the pine-pitch patches are visible from the sealing nails, and the building is not yet painted.
Behind the store are buildings along Lafayette Road and South Street, which confirm the location. From right to left is the edge of a residence at 151 Lafayette Road, the carriage house of 169 Lafayette (with an address of 1253 South Street), the garage of 151 Lafayette, and then the rear of 1215 South Street.
According to deeds, in 1915, Elizabeth Wallace Jenness (1888-1967) purchased land from her mother, Malvina Carter Wallace Kingsbury, near the corner of Willard Avenue and Lafayette Road. The store was then owned by Elizabeth and her husband, Harry Brackett Jenness (1885-1965), both of whom had experience within the retail and grocery businesses. This endeavor, however, was short-lived. By early 1917, the property was advertised at auction as "the former Jenness Store," and lumber dealer Robert I. Sugden purchased the parcel. The Sugden family owned property on Willard Avenue. In 1918, the Jenness family removed permanently to Plymouth County in Massachusetts.
Across town in August 1922, Zeda Stokl bought the former Spalding School parcel at auction on the corner of Bartlett and Clinton streets as an investment property. Shortly thereafter, a one-story building appeared on the corner of Clinton Street with the address of 205 Bartlett Street.
Today, that building still stands and appears to be the same structure as the former Jenness Store on Willard Avenue. What do you think? Was this building moved?🤔
Approximate year based on other glass plates in this grouping and corroborating research.
[PS3747a]
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