PORTSMOUTH — Students from the middle and high schools had their turn. Now how’d you like to test your knowledge of Portsmouth history?

Here are the same questions that the students tackled during the first Portsmouth Trivia Night hosted by the Portsmouth Historical Society on Thursday. Take the test yourself and see how you fare.

You’ll find the answers in the March 16, 2017 issue of The Portsmouth Times. No cheating!

Questions:

1. The earliest building used for a school in Portsmouth in 1725 still stands. Where is it located?

2. a) What was the name of the gentlemen’s farm that Reginald Vanderbilt established in 1902?; b) What was the name of the gentlemen’s farm his brother, Alfred Gwynne Vanderbilt, inherited in 1904?

3. The Union Meeting House was built in 1865 and it still stands. What is it used for today?

4. a) True or false: Passenger service on the railroad in Portsmouth ceased in 1968; b) The first railroad was built during what war?

5. Name five islands in Narragansett Bay.

6. True or false: At the close of the Battle of Rhode Island in 1778, the American Colonial troops were evacuated to Bristol.

7. Who were the two Narragansett Native Americans who negotiated the sale of Aquidneck Island to the first settlers?

8. Who were the three major leaders of the first settlement of Portsmouth?

9. A famous poet and advocate for women’s right to vote had a summer home in Portsmouth. What was her name and on which street was her home, which is still standing, located?

10. What were the first three towns settled in Rhode Island and in which years?

11. Where was Portsmouth’s Civil War hospital located?

12. What was the location of Portsmouth’s commercial center where steamboats, railroads, trolleys and ferries all came together in the early 20th century?

13. Where are the following places located: Town Pond, Butts Hill and Founders’ Brook?

14. The two most severe hurricanes to hit Portsmouth visited here in which years?

15. Portsmouth had a popular amusement park from 1898 to 1938. Where was it located and why did it close?

16. True or false: Rhode Island was the first colony/state to ratify the Constitution of the United States.

17. a) What was the name of the significant Colonial war that was fought nearby in 1675?; b) True or false: A major battle in that war was fought in Portsmouth.

18. A former one-room schoolhouse, built on Quaker Hill in 1914, still stands in town. What’s it used for today?

19. In July 1777, a raid took place at the Overing House. Who was captured there and who led the Colonial forces?

20. Gentlemen’s farms were an important part of early 20th century Portsmouth. One of the earliest such farms still stands in south Portsmouth. What’s it called?

21. What was the name of the first Colonial settlement on northern Aquidneck Island?

22. a) What European country came to the assistance of the American Colonial forces at the time of the Battle of Rhode Island? b) Gen. George Washington already had a citizen of that country on this staff. What was his name?

23. The discovery of anthracite coal in Portsmouth in 1809 led to a coal mining operation for more than a century. Where was this coal mine located?

24. a) True or false: Anne Hutchinson was the only woman to sign the Portsmouth Compact; b) Who was the first elected leader of the Portsmouth settlement?

25. a) Where was the first Portsmouth Compact signed?; b) True or false: Portsmouth was, as one historian said in 1915, the “birthplace of American democracy."; and c) Who was the first person to sign the Portsmouth Compact?