The American Legion Dance went late and loud at Kennebunk Town Hall on March 18, 1920. After the revelers finally retreated, Miss Edna Hubbard, a house guest at the neighboring home of George and Sylvia Cousens, finally drifted off to sleep, but she was startled awake again at about 4:30 A.M. by the sound of...
Month: March 2024
Bertha Smith, leader of Kennebunkport Women
Bertha Smith was born in Kennebunkport before the Civil War, to Horace and Mary A. Murphy Smith. She graduated from Mount Holyoke College in 1881 and taught in local schools during the 1890s. Miss Bertha Smith, Mrs. Gertrude Hanson, Mrs. Hope Littlefield and Miss Annie Merrill went for a ride together on their bicycles. On...
Annie Peabody Brooks
I have been thinking a lot this month about the admirable women I have encountered studying the history of Kennebunkport. I first learned about Annie Peabody Brooks when I read her vivid description of the old Rope Walk that used to run along where Ocean Ave now passes the Old River House. The story appeared...
The Beachwood Dows: Daniel, Orlando, and Francis
Daniel Dow (1828-1878) of Newton, MA built the first summer cottage at Goose Rocks in 1865 on land owned by Kennebunkport farmer, Elbridge Proctor. Daniel’s son Francis (1859-1936) spent his childhood summers soaking in the raw natural beauty of the remote place. He was already 11 years old when the first hotel, The Goose Rocks...