Category: History

Captain William Lord, Jr.

Capt. Nathaniel Lord and Phebe Walker of the Kennebunkport Lord Mansion fame were married in 1797. The young couple settled in a house on a sizable lot of land at the corner of Pearl and Pleasant streets gifted to them by Phebe’s father, Captain Daniel Walker. You might know the house as Captain Gould’s house....

June 9, 2022May 18, 2023

Hurricane Fire Extinguished: Dock Square Fires Recalled

Shortly after I posted my Throwback Thursday column last week, I read in a local Facebook Post that Hurricane Restaurant in Dock Square was on fire. My mind was immediately flooded with images of the two previous fires on that side of Dock Square that had caused so much damage. All but one of the...

June 2, 2022June 8, 2022

Government Wharf, Piers, and Boathouse Jetty on the Kennebunk River

The Kennebunk River was not originally suitable for shipbuilding or even navigation of merchant vessels, for that matter. A large ledge called Perch Rock obstructed the east side of channel. At low tide, only 10 inches of water passed over a sandbar across the mouth of the river. Shifting sands were liable to change the...

April 21, 2022May 20, 2022

Goose Rocks Beach Picture Donations Make All The Difference

The Kennebunkport Historical Society relies on the photographs you donate to illustrate and sometimes illuminate the history of the Kennebunks. The first photograph we are sharing today was donated to the Kennebunkport Historical Society by Orran D. Libby way back when Julian Howard was President of the society. It shows the first house ever built...

March 31, 2022May 20, 2022