History, Community and the Spirit of the Sea

Illustration by Peter Noonan

Rye is more than mansions along 1A and seafood from Petey’s or Ray’s. It’s home to more than 5,500 residents and even four small islands 7 miles out to sea. But what makes Rye — well, Rye?

Alex Herlihy, the town historian, who also spent many years as a history teacher before that, knows a thing or two.

Part of the allure is the “beautiful serpentine beaches,” which he says at one point made the town as famous as Newport, Rhode Island.

“Rye is the oldest community in the state, in spite of what Portsmouth says,” according to town historian Alex Herlihy.

“Rye is the oldest community in the state, in spite of what Portsmouth says. But the thing is, of course, there was no Rye and no Portsmouth, there were native people. And then these interlopers come in 1623, and landed at Odiorne Point, and the rest is history, sort of.”

So entrenched is Herlihy in history, he’s on the verge of publishing a new history of Rye’s 400 years. The 80-year-old is a Rye native. His mother, Jessie Herlihy, founded the town’s historical society. And, of course, he lives in a historic house.

What story does Herlihy think best captures the heart of Rye over the years?

Is it the story of Rye’s 1970s fight to stop Aristotle Onassis and Olympic Oil? Is it the urban myth that ’70s icon Farrah Fawcett once lived in the tower house on Route 1A?

“What stories? I’m going to say it’s ‘Parson’s Park,’ ” Herlihy says.

The cover of his forthcoming book on Rye pictures the late Esther Parsons standing in her field, holding a piece of apple pie.

“Esther Parsons represents the past, present and future,” he adds.

Parsons was one of the founding 44 families. In the 1970s, she’d loan use of her field for Fourth of July parties. The Bicentennial in 1976? Best party the town’s ever had, he says. And when she was thinking of selling her land to a developer, neighbors and friends inspired her to convey the land to a group and then to the town for recreation and public use.

Aside from that conservation win, Herlihy says, Rye won a geographic lottery.

“Our location is this north-south, east-west access. If you think about it, there have been native peoples coming and going from inland to the sea, up and down the coast, because they had sailing vessels, they fished, they went out to the shoals and fished.”

The east-west travels became more of a thing with European settlers, he says. And then a resort community in the mid-to-late 19th century. A trans-Atlantic undersea telegraph cable followed in 1874. And people from all over the world came here on vacation.

On a busy beach day in 2025, it may only feel like people from all over the world are also hitting the waves, exploring Odiorne Point, and checking out our local shops and eateries — La Mulita Coffee, The Ice House, Atlantic Grill and Carriage House to name just a few.

Just down from Wallis Sands State Beach, Kooks Cafe and Beach Bar is one of those local businesses. They serve breakfast, bowls and smoothies and tacos, among other enticing menu options. You can order the Rye Tai, or maybe a Dark & Stormy.

You can also get some community.

Giorgia Nagle has owned and operated Kooks Cafe and Beach Bar for seven years.

Giorgia Nagle, owner and operator of Kooks for seven years, welcomes a steady stream of visitors and longtime locals. And beach bums. And surfers — whether new or old-school. The name of her business is a fun tribute to a surfing term.

“Kooks itself is slang for a crummy surfer, poor surfer,” Nagle says. “And I’m not from New Hampshire, and I’m not from Rye. I call Rye home now, but I migrated this way after college and landed on the Seacoast. And thought Kooks was an appropriate term because I was about to open a surf bar and I didn’t surf, so it felt appropriate to kind of name it like a little kooky.”

Nagle, who is still trying to learn to surf, has some fun with the name, but she’s serious about the business, and it is seriously popular.

“You know, this strip used to have a ton of options, and it’s really changed over the years, and it’s very important to me to preserve what’s left for that and for the community, because a lot of people want to live here. It’s a really beautiful town, and there’s not really that many options.”

Some of that change: Back in the ’60s, Kooks was Surf Haven Pizza, according to Herlihy, the town historian. He used to go there back in the day. These days, he sometimes goes to Kooks.

Riding the waves

Some 3 miles south of Kooks, you can find Ryan and Tyler McGill, brothers who are expert surfers. Their love for surf inspired them to open Summer Sessions surf shop across from Jenness State Beach in 2002.

They each have surfed around the globe. But the stretch of sandy beaches in Rye where they learned to surf remains their passion.

Tyler McGill, 42, says it’s a great place to learn to ride the waves. Their shop offers sales and rentals and lessons, and is admittedly a bit of a vibe for the beach. In high school at Portsmouth High, he said there were few people their age who surfed.

Ryan and Tyler McGill opened Summer Sessions surf shop across from Jenness Beach in 2002.

Times sure have changed. The Summer Sessions’ kids surf camp is bustling each summer – and about half of the young surfers are girls, he says.

“We feel an enormous amount of pride in having built this business,” Tyler says. “For me, the biggest thing about Rye is the people.”

South of Jenness beach and near the Rye Beach Club, founded in 1925, there’s a historical marker remembering Rye’s historic hotels. One of them is the Oceanic Hotel, still out at Star Island. Another is located across the street. The Drake House, owned by fourth-generation proprietor Frank Drake, was once a 40-room summer hotel. It was converted to apartments in the late 1960s. And Drake and family still erect a giant U.S. flag from the rooftops each Independence Day — a tradition that dates back to the World War II era.

The Ocean Wave, the Atlantic House and the grand Farragut Hotel are long gone — as are scores of boarding houses that dotted the neighborhood.

Drake is a commissioner of the Rye Beach Village District, which is known for its “lollipop” street lights in the general area of the Rye Beach Post Office. The semi-rural character of the town is harder to see these days, though there are still some big, open fields, he says.

The summer days of Frank Drake’s youth featured brook trout fishing, hide-and-seek and plenty of time in the sand. The beach remains his summertime passion. Long-gone days of football on the big lawn have made way for bocce on the beach.

“People say, ‘Where you going this summer?’ ” Drake says when asked about his favorite part of Rye. “Across the street. Why would I go anywhere? I’m blessed to be right here. I don’t need to go anywhere.”

Locals like to josh with visiting family and friends that Rye is “midcoast”. It’s true, and also subtle fun at New Hampshire’s modest territory on the Atlantic. The town’s coastline, over 8 miles, is the longest of any community in the state. And there’s another 850 acres of salt marsh.

Rye native Frank Drake is the fourth-generation owner of The Drake House, a hotel that was converted to apartments in the 1960s. He also serves as a commissioner of the Rye Beach Village District.

Star Island and Gosport Harbor represent the easternmost point of New Hampshire. The westernmost part includes Lago’s Ice Cream on a stretch of Route 1. Lunging, Seavey and White islands also belong to Rye.

From the mainland, they can look like they’re close by, though they are 7 miles away. On certain days, when the atmospheric conditions are just right, keep an eye out for what’s called the Fata Morgana effect, a thermal inversion, which makes the isles appear distorted, or look like they are hovering above the surface of the sea.

The views and the sunsets can be mesmerizing. They are just as majestic for those looking west from the Isles of Shoals, says Joe Watts, CEO of Star Island Corp.

Sunset on Star Island, one of the nine Isles of Shoals located 7 miles off the coast of New Hampshire and Maine.

Watts oversees what he calls “a summer camp for people of all ages where everyone is welcome.” Star has offered that all-inclusive summer camp for the past 100 years.

Watts has served as CEO since 2012, but has worked on the island since 1987. He traveled there with his parents for a conference — Life on a Star — in 1981. Now he spends about three months a year on the island, which was annexed to Rye in 1876.

While Watts has a special place in his heart for Wallis Sands State Beach — where he proposed to his wife, Brenda, 24 years ago — he says Star Island is undoubtedly the best place in Rye for recharging and relaxing.

“The absolute fun thing,” Watts says, “is to watch the sun set over Rye. It’s different — where you look out over the land, we see it over water.”

No matter who you talk to, you can’t escape the natural beauty of Rye, a town locals are all lucky to call their own — more so in the summer months, when the beach and the bocce balls call.

JL Stevens is from Lee. Dan Tuohy is from Sunapee. For 27 years, they’ve called Rye Beach home and enjoy gazing out to sea at Star Island.