The city of Portsmouth, NH has had an organized Bahá'í presence as far back as 1929. At that time, the Bahá'í Faith was relatively obscure in this country; the first mention of the teachings of Bahá'u'lláh in the United States occurred at the Chicago Parliament of Religions in 1893. Today in 2015, the Portsmouth Bahá'í community is a vibrant community with enrolled community members of all ages.

The first Local Spiritual Assembly (the local governing body in every community where there are at least nine enrolled Bahá'ís ) was formed in Portsmouth in 1929/1930. A photo was taken of the first Assembly's officers in 1930 (Photo courtesy of Green Acre Bahá'í School).
In the past, the Portsmouth Bahá'í community has sponsored noteworthy events in Portsmouth.

• For several years, the Portsmouth Bahá'í community awarded scholarships based on essays written by Portsmouth Public High School students on topics such as world peace and unity.
• The Universal House of Justice, the international governing body of the Bahá'í Faith, published a statement entitled Promise of World Peace in 1985. This statement set out the tenets of the Bahá'í Faith directly related to teachings on the eventual establishment of world peace as prophesied throughout religious history. As befitting the magnitude of this statement, the Portsmouth Bahá'í community distributed this statement to the mayor's office and other local officials.
• In 2007, the Portsmouth Herald promoted a new series of articles written by faith leaders in Portsmouth. You can peruse the articles written by members of the Portsmouth Bahá'í community and published in the Herald as part of that series.
• The Portsmouth community is also a strong supporter of Green Acre Bahá'í Bahá'i Center of Learning in Eliot and has co-sponsored the Sarah Farmer Peace Award ceremony at Green Acre from 2005 to present.
  

Today, the community continues to welcome interest from those seeking to find a spiritual path and an opportunity to engage in service to advance the human race.