A residential community closely tied to Durham, Dover, and other areas of the Seacoast, Madbury was organized as a part of Dover and later Durham on traditionally Abenaki land. Madbury and Lee were settled through the 18th century, with Madbury incorporating as a standalone town in 1775. Many of the town’s early residents were traders with the island of Barbados, giving its name to natural resources today, including Barbados Pond. The Bellamy Reservoir, which succeeded Barbados Pond as the largest body of water in Madbury once dammed in 1960 as a water source for the then Pease Air Force Base. Today the Reservoir provides more than half of the City of Portsmouth’s water supply.