Author: Sharon Cummins (Sharon Cummins)

Two members of the Nowell family are of particular interest in the history of Kennebunkport. I have written several articles about Brigadier General Simon Nowell who lived at the corner of Union and Maine Streets across from Graves Library. Simon’s son Captain George W. Nowell is the subject of my story today. He lived in...

Most of you are familiar with HB Provisions or Meserve’s Market as it used to be called, but only those with memories of Kennebunk Lower Village going back more than 50 years will recall the controversy over making the little adjacent parking lot. In September 1968, for some unexplained reason, the Kennebunk Board of Selectmen...

The Cape Arundel crowd raised money to have the Kennebunk River Club built to support their growing enthusiasm for boating. Joseph Ranco could hardly keep up with canoe orders after the Boathouse Opening Ceremonies on August 2, 1890. Dr. Molten H. Forrest of Philadelphia, the Vice Commadore of the River Club, finished building his impressive...

Captain Daniel Webster Dudley was a globe-circumnavigating sea captain that lived on Elm Street in Kennebunkport from 1849 until 1929. In his time, the house was like a museum of treasures he acquired on his sea voyages to China, Japan, Java, New Guinea, New Ireland, the Soloman Islands, etc.. Captain Dudley commanded many vessels but...

You may have heard of the shipwrecked barque Horace, the remains of which still occasionally make an appearance at very low tide near Lord’s Point. This week, while searching the archives for documents relating to the Eliphalet Perkins family of Kennebunkport who built the Nott House, I came across a contemporaneous handwritten letter that brought...

You may remember my earlier story about the Kennebunk Beach Branch of the B&M Railroad. It ran from the Kennebunk Depot Road Station off Summer Street, down what we now think of as the bridle path along the eastern bank of the Mousam River to the Parsons Beach Station, across the Sea Road to the...

Labor Day Weekend 2024 is upon us. What does that mean to you? For many years Labor Day marked the end of the summer season at tourist destinations like our towns. But that isn’t what it was established to commemorate. Labor Day, organized by the Central Labor Union was first celebrated in this country in...

I have recently posted the histories of the Old Fort Inn and Breakwater Court (now The Colony). They were both designed by architect Henry Paston Clark for hotelman, Reuel W. Norton. By the time he died unexpectedly in 1924, Reuel Norton also owned a winter hotel in Florence Villa, Florida at which he employed a...

The old house in the foreground was still at 26 Summer Street in Kennebunk when this first photograph was taken. You might recognize the Taylor Barry House in the background. The old colonial had originally been built on Main Street by Theodore Lyman in 1770 as a store. Theodore Lyman worked for wealthy Shipbuilder Waldo...

Long-time Kennebunkport hotelman, Reuel W. Norton had the Old Fort Inn designed by Architects Henry Paston Clark and John Russel in 1901.Builder Alphonse Allen promised it would be finished in time to accept guests for the 1902 season. The Old Fort Inn opened for business in June 1902, as promised. The hotel was named after...