Governor Goodwin Mansion

The Goodwin Mansion is located at Strawbery Banke, on the north side of Hancock Street between Washington and Marcy Streets.

A bricklayer named James Hazeltine built this mansion around 1811 on the northwest corner of Islington and Cornwall Streets, opposite a field now known as Goodwin Park.

Ichabod Goodwin, a retired sea captain, purchased the home in 1832 and moved in with his wife, Sarah, and daughter, Abigail. The same year, he partnered with Samuel Coues to establish the shipping firm of Coues & Goodwin  and became a founding member of the short-lived Portsmouth Whaling Company.

Goodwin served six terms as a NH state legislator between 1838 and1856 and as a member of the Constitutional Conventions of 1850 and 1876. The citizens of New Hampshire elected him Governor of New Hampshire for two terms, from 1859-1861, during the difficult first year of the Civil War. He invested his own money to equip the First and Second Volunteer Regiments of New Hampshire.

Over the years, Ichabod Goodwin served as president of the Portsmouth Steam Company, the First National Bank, and the Portsmouth Gas Company. He was also president of the Eastern Railroad and the Portland, Saco & Portsmouth Railroad for twenty-five years.

His daughter, Susan Goodwin, married the future Spanish-American War hero and admiral, George Dewey, in this mansion in October 1867.

Governor Goodwin died in his home on July 4, 1882.

To preserve the historic home from Urban Renewal wrecking balls, Strawbery Banke moved the Goodwin Mansion to its present site in 1963. The mansion is the centerpiece of Strawbery Banke Museum.

Its original site across from Goodwin Park is now occupied by a used furniture store:

Original Location of Governor Goodwin Mansion