Kennebunkport is a resort town in York County,

Maine Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and ...

, United States. The population was 3,629 people at the 2020 census. It is part of the

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: * Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States * Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...

– South Portland–

Biddeford Biddeford is a city in York County, Maine, United States. It is the principal commercial center of York County. Its population was 22,552 at the 2020 census. The twin cities of Saco and Biddeford include the resort communities of Biddeford Poo ...

metropolitan statistical area In the United States, a metropolitan statistical area (MSA) is a geographical region with a relatively high population density at its core and close economic ties throughout the area. Such regions are neither legally incorporated as a city or tow ...

. The town center, the area in and around Dock Square, is located along the

Kennebunk River The Kennebunk River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map , accessed June 30, 2011 river in York County, Maine Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern reg ...

, approximately from the mouth of the river on the Atlantic Ocean. Historically a shipbuilding and fishing village, for well over a century the town has been a popular summer colony and seaside tourist destination. The Dock Square area has a district of

souvenir A souvenir (), memento, keepsake, or token of remembrance is an object a person acquires for the memories the owner associates with it. A souvenir can be any object that can be collected or purchased and transported home by the traveler as a m ...

shops, art galleries, schooner attractions, seafood restaurants, and

bed and breakfast Bed and breakfast (typically shortened to B&B or BnB) is a small lodging establishment that offers overnight accommodation and breakfast. Bed and breakfasts are often private family homes and typically have between four and eleven rooms, wit ...

Cape Porpoise Cape Porpoise, Maine is a small coastal village in the town of Kennebunkport, Maine, United States, and was the original English settlement of the town. It is northeast of Dock Square and southwest of Goose Rocks Beach. The village occupies the ma ...

, while retaining its identity as a fishing harbor, has a very small village area with several restaurants, a church, grocery store, coffee shop, small library, and art gallery. Kennebunkport has a reputation as a summer haven for the upper class and is one of the wealthiest communities in the state of Maine. The Municipality of Kennebunkport includes the constituent villages of Kennebunkport Village, Cape Arundel & Colony Beach, the Cottage Coast, Wilde's District (Wildwood), Goose Rocks Beach, Turbatts Creek, Cape Porpoise Village, North Village Crossing (Townhouse Corner), among various other newer developments. The town is the home of Walker's Point, a summer estate of the

Bush family The Bush family is an American dynastic family that is prominent in the fields of American politics, news, sports, entertainment, and business. They were the first family of the United States from 1989 to 1993 and again from 2001 to 2009, and w ...

. Kennebunkport and neighboring towns Kennebunk and Arundel comprise school district RSU 21.

History

Kennebunkport was first incorporated in 1653 as Cape Porpus, subject to the government of the Massachusetts Bay Colony (Maine was admitted to the Union in 1820 as part of the

Missouri Compromise The Missouri Compromise was a federal legislation of the United States that balanced desires of northern states to prevent expansion of slavery in the country with those of southern states to expand it. It admitted Missouri as a slave state and ...

). Due to Abenaki Indian resistance to colonial expansion, European settlers abandoned the town by 1689 and did not return until the early 18th century. The town was renamed Arundel, and the town center located inland at Burbank Hill. In 1821 the town was renamed again, this time to Kennebunkport in reflection to its economy becoming one of

shipbuilding Shipbuilding is the construction of ships and other floating vessels. It normally takes place in a specialized facility known as a shipyard. Shipbuilders, also called shipwrights, follow a specialized occupation that traces its roots to befo ...

and

trade Trade involves the transfer of goods and services from one person or entity to another, often in exchange for money. Economists refer to a system or network that allows trade as a market. An early form of trade, barter, saw the direct excha ...

along the

. By the 1870s the town had developed as a popular summer destination, with both hotels and homes constructed along its coastline. Cape Arundel,

, and Beachwood (now called

Goose Rocks Goose Rocks Beach (formerly known as "Beachwood"), is a public beach located in the town of Kennebunkport, Maine United States, bordered by Cape Porpoise, Maine (another neighborhood of Kennebunkport) to the southwest, and Granite Point (a coastal ...

) were some of the early summer colonies; although Cape Porpoise was, and still is, a working

fishing Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment, but may also be caught from stocked bodies of water such as ponds, canals, park wetlands and reservoirs. Fishing techniques inclu ...

harbor. Since 1939, Kennebunkport has been home to the

Seashore Trolley Museum Seashore Trolley Museum, located in Kennebunkport, Maine, United States, is the world's first and largest museum of mass transit vehicles. While the main focus of the collection is trolley cars (trams), it also includes rapid transit trains, ...

. The

Great Fires of 1947 The Great Fires of 1947 were a series of forest fires in the State of Maine in the United States that destroyed a total area of of wooded land on Mount Desert Island and statewide. Collectively, the fires killed a total of 16 people. This disaster ...

, which devastated much of York County, affected Kennebunkport and especially the area near Goose Rocks Beach. Much of the housing near Goose Rocks Beach was destroyed by the fire, but the area has since recovered and been rebuilt.

Geology

Like much of the northeast coast, the geography of the southern Maine coast was largely directed by the retreat of the Laurentide ice cap about 23,000 years ago. The coast is framed by bedrock, left during the formation of the Appalachian mountains, and the irregular shape of the coast (characteristic of much of the New England coast, with the exception of

Cape Cod Cape Cod is a peninsula extending into the Atlantic Ocean from the southeastern corner of mainland Massachusetts, in the northeastern United States. Its historic, maritime character and ample beaches attract heavy tourism during the summer mont ...

and the islands) is attributed to differential erosion of the underlying rock layer. The coast along Kennebunkport differs sharply from the Maine coast north and east of Portland due to differences in the composition of this rock layer. Beyond Portland, the layer is a largely metamorphic rock, but here the coast is a mixture of igneous rock, and embayments of more deeply eroded sedimentary and metamorphic rock. These embayments result in the sandy beaches that can be found in southern Maine (such as Goose Rocks Beach, Colony Beach, and nearby Kennebunk Beach) but are uncommon north of Portland. Likewise, the geology here differs from that of the outer lands (Cape Cod, Nantucket, and Martha's Vineyard in Massachusetts, Block Island in Rhode Island, and Long Island in New York), which were formed as terminal and recessional

moraines A moraine is any accumulation of unconsolidated debris (regolith and rock), sometimes referred to as glacial till, that occurs in both currently and formerly glaciated regions, and that has been previously carried along by a glacier or ice she ...

, and do not contain much in the way of a bedrock skeleton.

Geography

According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of t ...

, the town has a total area of , of which of it is land and is water. The town has several distinct areas, each developed during a phase of the town's history. The original town center was at

, which today has a small village center, is both a summer colony and year-round community, and hosts a working fishing harbor. Inland from Cape Porpoise is a mix of forest and agricultural land, punctuated by a historic town center at Burbank Hill (there are a few historic buildings of interest here, including a schoolhouse and jail). Heading west towards the mouth of the Kennebunk River is Dock Square, the current town center. In the late 19th and early 20th century, Kennebunkport, and especially Cape Arundel (also known as Point Arundel), developed as a summer colony for the wealthy. Traveling from Dock Square along Ocean Avenue is the Cape Arundel Summer Colony Historic District. This district of many well-preserved examples of early-20th-century shingle-style cottages begins at Chick's Creek and ends at Walker's Point.

Adjacent municipalities

Biddeford, Maine Biddeford is a city in York County, Maine, United States. It is the principal commercial center of York County. Its population was 22,552 at the 2020 census. The twin cities of Saco and Biddeford include the resort communities of Biddeford Po ...

(north) *

Kennebunk, Maine Kennebunk is a town in York County, Maine, United States. The population was 11,536 at the 2020 census (The population does not include Kennebunkport, a separate town). Kennebunk is home to several beaches, the Rachel Carson National Wildlife R ...

(southwest) *

Arundel, Maine Arundel is a town in York County, Maine, United States. At the 2020 census, the population was 4,264. It is part of the Portland– South Portland–Biddeford, Maine Metropolitan Statistical Area. The Municipality of Arundel includes th ...

(west)

Rachel Carson National Wildlife Refuge

The

Rachel Carson National Wildlife Refuge The Rachel Carson National Wildlife Refuge is a National Wildlife Refuge made up of several parcels of land along of Maine's southern coast. Created in 1966, it is named for environmentalist and author Rachel Carson, whose book ''Silent Spring'' ...

has a significant portion of lands in Kennebunkport northeast of Cape Porpoise and through Goose Rocks. Within Kennebunkport, much of this protected land is salt-water marsh.

Climate

This

climatic Climate is the long-term weather pattern in an area, typically averaged over 30 years. More rigorously, it is the mean and variability of meteorological variables over a time spanning from months to millions of years. Some of the meteorological ...

region is typified by large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers and cold (sometimes severely cold) winters. According to the

Köppen Climate Classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...

system, Kennebunkport has a

humid continental climate A humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers and freezing ...

, abbreviated "Dfb" on climate maps.

Summer home of the Bush family

Kennebunkport was also the summer home of former U.S. President George H. W. Bush, father of former U.S. President

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...

. First built by Bush's maternal grandfather George Herbert Walker, it has been a family home ever since, and has been owned by the Bush family since sometime in the early 1980s. The Bushes' ancestry is distinct from the Walker family that settled York County, Maine. Some of this family's Walker relatives are buried in the Kennebunkport area ancient cemeteries. During his presidency, George H.W. Bush often invited world leaders, from

Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. She was the first female British prime ...

to Mikhail Gorbachev, to Kennebunkport. In 2007, his son George W. Bush invited

Vladimir Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin; (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who holds the office of president of Russia. Putin has served continuously as president or prime minister since 1999: as prime min ...

and Nicolas Sarkozy. The Bush compound is on Walkers Point, called Point Vesuvius prior to the Walker family's acquisition.

Demographics

As of 2000, the median income for a household in the town was $54,219, and the median income for a family was $66,505. Males had a median income of $43,125 versus $34,028 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or total income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. It is calculated by dividing the area's total income by its total population. Per capita i ...

for the town was $36,707. About 1.7% of families and 4.4% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for t ...

, including 4.4% of those under age 18 and 1.4% of those age 65 or over.

2010 census

As of the

census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses in ...

of 2010, there were 3,474 people, 1,578 households, and 1,039 families residing in the town. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: Stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical ...

was . There were 2,897 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the town was 99.0%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White o ...

, 0.2%

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

, 0.1% Native American, 0.7%

Asian Asian may refer to: * Items from or related to the continent of Asia: ** Asian people, people in or descending from Asia ** Asian culture, the culture of the people from Asia ** Asian cuisine, food based on the style of food of the people from Asi ...

, 0.3% from

other races Other often refers to: * Other (philosophy), a concept in psychology and philosophy Other or The Other may also refer to: Film and television * ''The Other'' (1913 film), a German silent film directed by Max Mack * ''The Other'' (1930 film), a ...

, and 0.7% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad. The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to viceroyalties forme ...

Latino Latino or Latinos most often refers to: * Latino (demonym), a term used in the United States for people with cultural ties to Latin America * Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States * The people or cultures of Latin America; ** Latin A ...

of any race were 0.9% of the population. There were 1,578 households, of which 22.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 56.7% were married couples living together, 6.4% had a female householder with no husband present, 2.8% had a male householder with no wife present, and 34.2% were non-families. 28.6% of all households were made up of individuals, and 13.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.20 and the average family size was 2.68. The median age in the town was 51.8 years. 17.9% of residents were under the age of 18; 5.6% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 15.2% were from 25 to 44; 36.5% were from 45 to 64, and 24.7% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the town was 47.5% male and 52.5% female.

Gallery

File:Kennebunkport South Congregational Church 2004-12-03.jpg, South Congregational Church File:Kennebunkport ME harbor.jpg, The harbor File:Boats on the Kennebunk River at Kennebunkport, Maine.jpg, Boats on the

File:Ocean Ave, K'port 1.jpg, Businesses on Ocean Avenue File:Dock-square-1.jpg, View of Dock Square File:Kennebunkport Public Library.jpg, Louis T. Graves Memorial Public Library File:Walkers-point.aug2008.jpg, Protestors on Ocean Ave. near the

Bush Compound Walker's Point Estate (or the Bush compound) is the summer retreat of the Bush family, in the town of Kennebunkport, Maine. It lies along the Atlantic Ocean in the northeast United States, on Walker's Point. The estate served as the Summe ...

, in 2008

Notable people

* Margaret Deland, novelist *

Patrick Dempsey Patrick Galen Dempsey (born January 13, 1966) is an American actor and race car driver. He is best known for his role as neurosurgeon Derek "McDreamy" Shepherd in ''Grey's Anatomy''. He had early success as an actor, starring in a number of fi ...

, actor *

Dan Goodwin Daniel Goodwin (born November 7, 1955 in Kennebunkport, Maine) is an American climber best known for performing gymnastic-like flag maneuvers and one arm flyoffs while free soloing difficult rock climbs on national TV and for scaling towering s ...

, building, rock, and sports climber * Frank Handlen, painter * Garnet Hathaway, professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice h ...

player * Joshua Herrick, US congressman * Dick McCabe, racing driver and champion *

Wiley Miller David Wiley Miller (born April 15, 1951, Burbank, California) is an American cartoonist whose work is characterized by wry wit and trenchant social satire, is best known for his comic strip '' Non Sequitur'', which he signs Wiley. ''Non Sequitur' ...

, cartoonist *

Jane Morgan Jane Morgan (born Florence Catherine Currier; May 3, 1924) is an American former singer of traditional pop. Morgan initially found success in France and the UK before achieving recognition in the US, receiving six Music recording certification, ...

, singer, actress *

Russell Nype Russell Harold Nype (April 26, 1920 – May 27, 2018) was an American actor and singer. Early years Born in Zion, Illinois, Nype majored in speech and English at Lake Forest College, earning a bachelor's degree. In World War II, he served in t ...

, actor * Shiloh Pepin,

Sirenomelia Sirenomelia, also called mermaid syndrome, is a rare congenital deformity in which the legs are fused together, giving the appearance of a mermaid's tail, hence the nickname. Classification Sirenomelia is classified by the skeletal structure ...

patient with legs fused *

George Clement Perkins George Clement Perkins (August 23, 1839February 26, 1923) was an American businessman and politician. A member of the Republican Party, Perkins served as the 14th Governor of California from 1880 to 1883, and as United States Senator from Cali ...

, 14th governor of California * Kenneth Roberts, author * Rex Smith, American singer and actor *

Booth Tarkington Newton Booth Tarkington (July 29, 1869 – May 19, 1946) was an American novelist and dramatist best known for his novels '' The Magnificent Ambersons'' (1918) and '' Alice Adams'' (1921). He is one of only four novelists to win the Pulitz ...

, novelist and dramatist * George Herbert Walker, banker, businessman, grandfather of US President George H. W. Bush, and great-grandfather of

* Bentley Warren, racecar driver *

Neil Clark Warren Neil Clark Warren (born September 18, 1934) is an American clinical psychologist, Christian theologian, seminary professor and co-founder of the online relationship sites eHarmony and Compatible Partners. In 1995, Warren and his son-in-law, ...

, online dating service chairman

In popular culture

Kennebunkport was featured in the 2003 filming of the film '' Empire Falls'' by Maine author Richard Russo, with a downtown book shop making a notable appearance. Robin Wright appeared on set in Kennebunkport. Other films with scenes shot in Kennebunkport include '' Lost Boundaries'' (1949), ''The Man Who Knew Bush'' (2004 documentary), ''

The Living Wake ''The Living Wake'' (2007) is a dark comedic film written by Mike O'Connell and Peter Kline and produced by Ami Ankin. A directorial debut by Sol Tryon, the film stars Mike O'Connell, Jesse Eisenberg, and Jim Gaffigan. Plot The film follows ...

'' (2007), '' 41'' (2012 documentary) and ''US Route 1-ME'' (2012). ''My Husband's Double Life'' was partially set in the town, but filmed in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

References

External links

Town of Kennebunkport website

Louis T. Graves Memorial Public Library

Cape Porpoise Library

Kennebunkport Historical Society

Epodunk Town Profile

History and old maps of Kennebunkport Maine

Maine Genealogy: Kennebunkport, York County, Maine
{{coord, 43, 21, 42, N, 70, 28, 36, W, type:city_region:US-ME, display=title Populated places established in 1653 Portland metropolitan area, Maine Towns in York County, Maine Towns in Maine Populated coastal places in Maine 1653 establishments in the Thirteen Colonies Resort towns