Originally Fort Constitution was the British stronghold Fort William and Mary. On Dec. 14, 1774, following a little-known warning ride by Paul Revere, Portsmouth's Sons of Liberty, accompanied by Durham and New Castle patriots, captured the fort and seized the British powder and arms. Stored in Durham, the munitions were used against the British 4 months later at the battle of Bunker Hill.
President Theodore Roosevelt won a Nobel Peace Prize for work done in New Castle. In 1905 he negotiated the Treaty of Portsmouth, which ended the Russo-Japanese War.