Historian, Sharon Cummins is a Maine native. Born in Auburn, Sharon grew up in a very old cape built in 1786 with a barn on 100 acres on Maple Hill in North Auburn. Adopted into the Lichter family after a tragic accident took her young mother’s life, Sharon adored exploring the expansive woods and nearby family cemetery sparking her interest in history. The names and dates on the gravestones drew her into the lives of those who had come before her. A historian was born.

Sharon attended public schools in Auburn and graduated from Hebron Academy in 1976. She moved to Boston after graduation and attended Northeastern University majoring in English and Literature. After working several jobs in Boston unrelated to her major, she returned to school to earn a degree in computer science. This led her to a position with Blue Cross of Massachusetts where she was promoted several times and served as a systems programmer and later a Network Architect for all the Massachusetts Blue Cross locations.

Sharon lived and worked in Massachusetts where she was married and raised her son. Her heart, however, was in Maine. She returned to live in 2000 with her son, Tyler, and soon began working at the Kennebunkport Historical Society office in 2001. Sharon fell in love with the history of Kennebunkport the way she had as a child on Maple Hill. She found herself spending all her spare time learning about it and the collections in the vault and was eventually promoted to Curator, working exclusively at the Town House School for several years.

Sharon parted ways with the Society in 2007 and wrote a weekly local history column for the Post and then the York County Coast Star. She eventually returned to the Kennebunkport Historical Society as a volunteer and was hired back as Historian in 2019. 

Sharon is known for her weekly story, “Throwback Thursdays”, found on the Society’s social media platforms and blog on the Society’s website.