PORTSMOUTH — The Portsmouth Historical Society had a special guest at its member open house on Sunday. State Rep. Dan Reilly dropped by to present the Society with a state grant of $2,000. 

Rep. Reilly applauded the work of the Society in preserving and promulgating Portsmouth’s history, indicating that he hoped to participate in some of the group’s upcoming events.

Society President Jim Garman said the funds will help protect Portsmouth’s historic artifacts. 

“These grant funds will be used to get a large dehumidifier installed in our museum,” said Mr. Garman. “One of our local members who is in the air quality business has come forward to do this work for us at cost, and this dehumidifier will help prevent the kind of damage to our museum collections from moisture that occurred last year.”

In the spring of 2015, a part of the Society’s collection of historic books were damaged beyond repair due to storm damage to the Society building which has since been repaired. The new dehumidifier will also help protect the historic clothing, flags, artifacts and other historically significant items displayed and stored in the museum.

The Portsmouth Historical Society is located on the corner of Union Street and East Main Road. For more information, visit www.portsmouthhistorical.org.