With those views, it might seem like Lord’s Point must have always been the exclusive summer enclave that it is today, but it wasn’t.

In the 1770s, there was a salt works there where they extracted salt from sea water. Wells and Kennebunk Historian, E.E. Bourne, 1797-1873 wrote that salt was exceedingly scarce here in 1775. One of the salt works erected by Kennebunk entrepreneurs was on “Two Acres,” the old-fashioned name for Lord’s Point. “The works were continued in operation four or five years,” wrote Bourne. “In 1779 and 1780 the price of salt had fallen so much that they ceased to be profitable,”

Also, according to Bourne, the first vessel to use the new Mousam River channel into the cove was a schooner belonging to Theodore Lyman. She passed out the new canal on Feb 1, 1794. Soon after that, a larger vessel built by John Butland had a hard time getting over the ledge near the mouth of the new canal. Historian Daniel Remich 1809-1892 wrote that a short time after the 1794 Mousam River Canal had been excavated, Capt. Benjamin Dickson and one or two associates built and successfully launched a schooner from Two Acres; she was named “Sch. Two Acres.” The shipyard was near the present site of John R. Bean’s cottage.” See the location of the Bean property on the J.H. Stuart & Co. Map.

Owen Wentworth first invited summer guests to stay at his farm on Sea Road in the 1860s. He built a 10-room addition to his farmhouse in 1866 and responding to increasing demand, eventually built 3 more additions and several other hotels.

Hartley Lord and Charles Thompson each bought sizable waterfront lots in 1866, when Wentworth’s hospitality venture was already showing surprising promise. Thompson bought the point of land that separated Boothby’s Beach from Pebble Beach. The first cottages at Boothby’s Beach were built there in 1873. Hartley Lord bought “Two Acres” and built his grand summer house complex there in 1875.

Many thanks to Cindi Lord Ardizzone for sharing such great Lord’s Point photographs with me over the years!