Homelessness is not much of a problem in Kennebunkport these days but that wasn’t always the case. When the 1896 freshet took out the bridge between Dock Square and Kennebunk Lower Village and a new bridge was under construction, businessmen complained about the less desirable class of people hanging around the train station. Those poor souls were referred to in the Biddeford Journal as the “unwashed and thirsty,” “hobos and highwaymen,” “the tired tourists,” and “noble deserters of toil,” lumping together beggars, drunks, thieves and the unemployed. Never mind that one unemployed engineer, who was fortuitously loitering nearby when the first bridge span arrived, was the person who recognized its inadequacy, potentially saving Kennebunkport from disaster. They took his advice to send the faulty span back but, never gave him credit for his warning.

To address the “hobo” problem, a petition was circulated in 1898 by W.H.H. Hinds and 10 others, to establish a proper Police Force and purchase a lockup for the town. Kennebunkporters voted at the Annual Meeting to appropriate $1,000 to buy a lot, build a jail, and have steel cell cages manufactured. The Selectmen purchased a double cage, measuring 9’ X 6.5’, from E.T. Barnum for $143.37. They were unable to find a suitable lot to buy upon which to build a jail, so they installed the cells in a former blacksmith shop on Ocean Ave., owned by Charles W. Hoff. The jail cells were housed in the rented building until 1913, when Mr. Hoff moved his little building to Wharf Lane where it has since been converted into an adorable cottage. The jail cells were moved to the Village Fire Station next door where they remained until the building was remodeled in 1990.

The double steel cage with drop down steel cots was donated to the Kennebunkport Historical Society. Thanks to an anonymous donor, a 12’ X 16’ building was designed especially for the Old Jail Cells next door to the Town House School in 1991. Ask to see them next time you are at the Kennebunkport Historical Society North Street campus.