The historic sites and nearly pristine estuary of the Piscataqua region represent a mixture of heritage and nature unparalleled in New England. They are worth preserving. For centuries the Piscataqua region was an extended maritime community connected by the Great Bay Estuary, the short seacoast of New Hampshire and southern Maine, and the seven tributary rivers that fortify the Piscataqua River itself. Moving water shaped the region--under its vessels, at its mills, and across its marshes. Carrying the freight of our history, and holding out the promise of community-based conservation, this book (and these waters) invite you on a journey of exploration and renewal. Join the naturalists, fishermen ,and historic preservationists who have all felt the pull of this place, and who wish to sustain it in the face of the headlong development consuming America today.

W. Jeffrey Bolster is Associate Professor of History at the University of New Hampshire, and author of Black Jacks: African American Seamen in the Age of Sail.