A Bellamy Eagle is a historical carving by John H. Bellamy, a very famous artist who worked at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard around the turn of the century. Over the course of his career spanning from the 1870s through 1910 or so, he designed and carved beautiful eagles out of wood. These works of art no only adorned ships, but also local businesses and homes.
As you may know, our Town Hall used to be adorned with a Bellamy Eagle above the main entrance. The big white space that is currently there used to look like this:
The Town of Newfields still has its original Bellamy Eagle, but it is no longer hung outside the building due to the weathering, its age and its value. Years ago the town took it down and built a case to preserve this piece of history.
We are organizing a fundraiser to buy a “new” Bellamy Eagle to put above the main entrance.
We have received a quote from one of the best artists in the world who produces Bellamy Eagles, and he has agreed to carve a new eagle for the town.
Our original Bellamy Eagle was of the traditional style with the banner, but the artist who will be commissioned to do a new one for the town pointed out that the first star on the left is carved, but all the other stars are painted on. It likely did not originally have all the stars on the banner and probably had a slogan which was worn and painted over. We are proposing to have “Pax et Libertas” – Peace and Liberty — on the banner in the traditional manner.
This is a private community fundraising effort, not a Town initiative.
We are asking the people of Newfields (or anyone who just wants to contribute) to donate and help raise the $4000 necessary to obtain a new Bellamy Eagle.
We hope to raise the funds and be able to unveil the new eagle sometime this year.
How to Donate
Donations can be made to the Newfields Community Fund, which was established to raise funds for this project.
Donate through our GoFundMe page, or send a check to the Newfields Community Fund (c/o Michael Sununu, 184 Exeter Road, Newfields, NH 03856).
Please contact Michael Sununu at msununu@newfieldsnh.gov if you have any questions or to coordinate your contribution directly.
Thank you for your support!
