The first known inhabitants of the Kennebunks were Native Americans whose history of traveling to the Kennebunk Plains and coast-line for seasonal migration dates back; it is believed, to the Paleo-Indian period some 11,000 years ago. Over time, their quest for bison and caribou evolved to catching and drying fish on the banks of the Kennebunk and Mousam Rivers as well as the shores of Kennebunkport.

Kennebunkport Conditions and Forecast

In 1602 Bartholomew Gosnold, a French explorer, landed on the shores of Kennebunk as he and his party sought to find a northern route to the New World. In 1604, it is recorded that explorer Samuel de Champlain put in at Cape Porpoise naming the area Le Port aux Isles or Island Harbor. From 1620 through 1669, both Kennebunk and Kennebunkport grew in importance as centers for the harvesting of local timber, agriculture, and shipbuilding. The years were tumultuous as many of the settlements were ravaged in conflicts with the Native Americans who continued to migrate to the area during the warmer months as they had done for centuries. In 1653, the area, known today as Kennebunkport then as Cape Porpus, was incorporated and became a subject of the government of Massachusetts. The area outside this domain, to be one day Kennebunk, remained a part of Wells and would not be incorporated as a town with the name Kennebunk until 1820.

In 1669, the first sawmill was built on the Mousam River in what is now the present village area. Through the next 200 years, additional mills followed on the areas’ waterways giving rise to burgeoning shipbuilding and seafaring enterprises. So successful were these enterprises, Kennebunkport became the second richest town in Maine during this time having built one hundred sailing ships in one year. If one looks closely, vestiges of shipbuilding days can be seen on riverbanks throughout the area. The Landing School just off Durrell’s Bridge still continues the craft of shipbuilding with a roster of students from all over the world. For a glimpse of the port as it was in the mid 1800s, one can still visit picturesque Cape Porpoise harbor with its sailing schooners and lobster boats tied up at the wharf selling their catch of the day.

By the mid 1800s, the area was a mecca for foreign trade, not only trade borne from its Kennebunk/Kennebunkport made sailing ships but from agriculture and manufacturing as well. With the advent of the railroads in the 1860s and 1870s, summer homes and resorts began to spring up on the beautiful shores of Kennebunk and Kennebunkport. As car and airplane travel grew in the mid 1900s, the number of visitors to the area also increased. With the people came businesses to serve those people and an entire new industry was created, the industry of tourism. Today, Dock Square, the Lower Village, and Main Street Kennebunk beckon tourists and residents alike to their welcoming restaurants and creative retail establishments.

As the tourist industry has grown, so too has the manufacturing and professional base grown making the towns of Kennebunk and Kennebunkport thriving year round communities.

Their citizens are employed in a broad spectrum of state of the art industries, professional occupations and cultural endeavors. Family life is a priority with the citizenry of both communities and they support strong, intellectually challenging school systems.

The spirit and history of the Kennebunks lives on in its bustling Dock Square, the grandeur of its sea captains’ homes, and the beauty of its beaches all capturing the essence of life as it should be in the quintessential Maine seacoast towns of Kennebunk and Kennebunkport.