Kennebunkport, Maine | |
|---|---|
 Downtown during the Christmas season, looking towards Dock Square | |
 Flag  Seal | |
  Kennebunkport  Kennebunkport | |
| Coordinates:43°22′51″N70°27′7″W / 43.38083°N 70.45194°W /43.38083; -70.45194 | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Maine |
| County | York |
| Incorporated | July 5, 1653 |
| Government | |
| • Type | Town Meeting |
| • Town Manager | Laurie Smith |
| • Board of Selectmen | Shelia Matthews-Bull Edward W. Hutchins Jon Dykstra D. Michael Weston Allen A. Daggett |
| Area | |
| • Land | 18.6 sq mi (48 km2) |
| Elevation | 26 ft (8 m) |
| Population (2020) | |
• Total | 3,629 |
| • Density | 195.1/sq mi (75.3/km2) |
| Time zone | UTC-5 (Eastern (EST)) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC-4 (EDT) |
| ZIP Codes | 04046 (Kennebunkport) 04014 (Cape Porpoise) |
| Area code | 207 |
| FIPS code | 23-36745 |
| GNIS feature ID | 0582540 |
| Website | kennebunkportme |
Kennebunkport/ˌkɛniˈbʌŋkˌpɔːrt/ is aresort town inYork County, Maine, United States. The population was 3,629 people at the2020 census.[2] It is part of thePortland-South Portland-Biddeford metropolitan area.
The town center, the area in and aroundDock Square, is located along theKennebunk River, approximately 1 mile (1.6 km) 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 ofsouvenir shops, art galleries, schooner attractions, seafood restaurants, andbed and breakfasts.Cape Porpoise, 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 ofWalker's Point, a summer estate of theBush family.
Kennebunkport and neighboring townsKennebunk andArundel comprise school district RSU 21.[3]
The KennebunkportChristmas Prelude takes place annually in the town, beginning either in late November or early December.
Archeological evidence exists of activity in the area now known asCape Porpoise 7000 years ago.[4] In 1602, the time of contact with Europeans, it was occupied by communities of theAlmouchiquois people, who referred to the area as Nampscoscock.[5] According to 1640 land records, asagamore of that community was "Thomas" Chabinock.[6]
Kennebunkport was first incorporated in 1653 asCape Porpus, subject to the government of theMassachusetts Bay Colony (Maine was admitted to the Union in 1820 as part of theMissouri Compromise). Due toAbenaki Indian resistance to colonial expansion, European settlers abandoned the town by 1689 and did not return for at least ten years. TheWabanaki Confederacy again expelled English from the area from 1703 to 1717, and continued violent resistance to colonization until the end ofKing George's War in 1748.[7]
The town was renamed Arundel in 1701, and the town center located inland at Burbank Hill.
On August 8, 1782 Arundel was under attack by two loyalist vessels: the 16 gun brig "Miriam" [Richard Pomroy] and the schooner "Hammond" [Doty] captured two unnamed vessels from Newbury Massachusetts (a schooner and a sloop). The sloop was burned after it went aground on Goat Island. A battle took place between the vessels and the militia ashore. The Patriot casualties were Captain James Burnham killed in action; civilian Samuel Wildes was wounded when he demanded the Loyalists return the vessels they had taken.[8] In 1821 the town was renamed again, this time to Kennebunkport in reflection to its economy becoming one ofshipbuilding andtrade along theKennebunk River.[9]
By the 1870s the town had developed as a popularsummer destination, with both hotels and homes constructed along its coastline. Cape Arundel,Cape Porpoise, and Beachwood (now calledGoose Rocks) were some of the early summer colonies; although Cape Porpoise was, and still is, a workingfishing harbor. Since 1939, Kennebunkport has been home to theSeashore Trolley Museum.
TheGreat Fires of 1947, 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.[10]
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.[11] 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 ofCape Cod 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 recessionalmoraines, and do not contain much in the way of a bedrock skeleton.[12]
According to theUnited States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 49.35 square miles (127.82 km2), of which 20.52 square miles (53.15 km2) is land and 28.83 square miles (74.67 km2) is water.[1]
The town has several distinct areas, each developed during a phase of the town's history. The original town center was atCape Porpoise, 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.[13]
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.[14] 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.[15]
TheRachel Carson National Wildlife Refuge has a significant portion of lands in Kennebunkport, northeast of Cape Porpoise and through Goose Rocks.[16] Within Kennebunkport, much of this protected land is salt-water marsh.
Thisclimatic region is typified by large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers and cold (sometimes severely cold) winters. According to theKöppen climate classification system, Kennebunkport has ahumid continental climate, abbreviatedDfb on climate maps.[17]
| Climate data for Kennebunkport, Maine (1991–2020 normals, extremes 1989–present) | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °F (°C) | 63 (17) | 68 (20) | 77 (25) | 91 (33) | 92 (33) | 97 (36) | 99 (37) | 96 (36) | 93 (34) | 84 (29) | 75 (24) | 75 (24) | 99 (37) |
| Mean maximum °F (°C) | 51 (11) | 52 (11) | 60 (16) | 73 (23) | 82 (28) | 88 (31) | 91 (33) | 88 (31) | 83 (28) | 74 (23) | 64 (18) | 56 (13) | 93 (34) |
| Mean daily maximum °F (°C) | 32.7 (0.4) | 34.9 (1.6) | 41.2 (5.1) | 52.0 (11.1) | 61.6 (16.4) | 70.8 (21.6) | 76.9 (24.9) | 76.0 (24.4) | 69.3 (20.7) | 58.6 (14.8) | 48.3 (9.1) | 38.8 (3.8) | 55.1 (12.8) |
| Daily mean °F (°C) | 22.9 (−5.1) | 24.7 (−4.1) | 32.0 (0.0) | 42.1 (5.6) | 52.1 (11.2) | 61.5 (16.4) | 67.3 (19.6) | 66.2 (19.0) | 59.1 (15.1) | 48.1 (8.9) | 38.7 (3.7) | 29.4 (−1.4) | 45.3 (7.4) |
| Mean daily minimum °F (°C) | 13.1 (−10.5) | 14.4 (−9.8) | 22.7 (−5.2) | 32.3 (0.2) | 42.7 (5.9) | 52.3 (11.3) | 57.8 (14.3) | 56.5 (13.6) | 48.9 (9.4) | 37.5 (3.1) | 29.2 (−1.6) | 20.0 (−6.7) | 35.6 (2.0) |
| Mean minimum °F (°C) | −6 (−21) | −4 (−20) | 4 (−16) | 21 (−6) | 29 (−2) | 40 (4) | 46 (8) | 44 (7) | 33 (1) | 24 (−4) | 14 (−10) | 3 (−16) | −9 (−23) |
| Record low °F (°C) | −20 (−29) | −19 (−28) | −10 (−23) | 13 (−11) | 16 (−9) | 34 (1) | 35 (2) | 29 (−2) | 19 (−7) | 12 (−11) | −3 (−19) | −15 (−26) | −20 (−29) |
| Averageprecipitation inches (mm) | 3.65 (93) | 3.71 (94) | 4.68 (119) | 4.73 (120) | 4.21 (107) | 4.69 (119) | 3.90 (99) | 3.88 (99) | 3.93 (100) | 5.63 (143) | 4.17 (106) | 4.82 (122) | 52 (1,321) |
| Average snowfall inches (cm) | 13.3 (34) | 13.3 (34) | 9.8 (25) | 1.3 (3.3) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 0.1 (0.25) | 0.7 (1.8) | 10.4 (26) | 48.9 (124.35) |
| Average extreme snow depth inches (cm) | 12 (30) | 13 (33) | 12 (30) | 2 (5.1) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 1 (2.5) | 7 (18) | 18 (46) |
| Average precipitation days(≥ 0.01 in) | 11 | 9 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 13 | 11 | 10 | 10 | 12 | 11 | 12 | 135 |
| Average snowy days(≥ 0.1 in) | 6 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 18 |
| Source: NOAA[18] | |||||||||||||
Kennebunkport was also thesummer home of former U.S. PresidentGeorge H. W. Bush, father of former U.S. PresidentGeorge W. Bush. First built by Bush's maternal grandfatherGeorge Herbert Walker, it has been a family home ever since, and has been owned by the Bush family since sometime in the early 1980s.[19] 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, fromMargaret Thatcher toMikhail Gorbachev, to Kennebunkport. In 2007, his son George W. Bush invitedVladimir Putin andNicolas Sarkozy. The Bush compound is on Walkers Point, called Point Vesuvius prior to the Walker family's acquisition.[19]
| Census | Pop. | Note | %± |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1830 | 2,763 | — | |
| 1840 | 2,768 | 0.2% | |
| 1850 | 2,706 | −2.2% | |
| 1860 | 2,668 | −1.4% | |
| 1870 | 2,372 | −11.1% | |
| 1880 | 2,405 | 1.4% | |
| 1890 | 2,196 | −8.7% | |
| 1900 | 2,123 | −3.3% | |
| 1910 | 2,130 | 0.3% | |
| 1920 | 1,431 | −32.8% | |
| 1930 | 1,284 | −10.3% | |
| 1940 | 1,448 | 12.8% | |
| 1950 | 1,522 | 5.1% | |
| 1960 | 1,851 | 21.6% | |
| 1970 | 2,160 | 16.7% | |
| 1980 | 2,952 | 36.7% | |
| 1990 | 3,356 | 13.7% | |
| 2000 | 3,720 | 10.8% | |
| 2010 | 3,474 | −6.6% | |
| 2020 | 3,629 | 4.5% | |
| U.S. Decennial Census[20] | |||
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. Theper capita income for the town was $36,707. About 1.7% of families and 4.4% of the population were below thepoverty line, including 4.4% of those under age 18 and 1.4% of those age 65 or over.[citation needed]
As of thecensus[21] of 2010, there were 3,474 people, 1,578 households, and 1,039 families residing in the town. Thepopulation density was 169.3 inhabitants per square mile (65.4/km2). There were 2,897 housing units at an average density of 141.2 per square mile (54.5/km2). The racial makeup of the town was 99.0%White, 0.2%African American, 0.1%Native American, 0.7%Asian, 0.3% fromother races, and 0.7% from two or more races.Hispanic orLatino 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% weremarried 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 sex makeup of the town was 47.5% male and 52.5% female.
Kennebunkport was featured in the 2003 filming of the filmEmpire Falls by Maine authorRichard Russo, with a downtown book shop making a notable appearance. Robin Wright appeared on set in Kennebunkport.[22]
Other films with scenes shot in Kennebunkport includeLost Boundaries (1949),The Man Who Knew Bush (2004 documentary),The Living Wake (2007),41 (2012 documentary) andUS Route 1-ME (2012).My Husband's Double Life was partially set in the town, but filmed inToronto.[23][24]
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Municipalities and communities ofYork County, Maine,United States | ||
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| Cities |  | |
| Towns | ||
| CDPs | ||
| Unincorporated communities and villages | ||
| Footnotes | ‡This populated place also has portions in an adjacent county | |
| International | |
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| National | |
| Other | |
43°21′42″N70°28′36″W / 43.36167°N 70.47667°W /43.36167; -70.47667
