Kennebunkport

History

Archeological evidence exists of activity in the area now known as Cape Porpoise 7000 years ago. In 1602, the time of contact with Europeans, it was occupied by communities of the Almouchiquois people, who referred to the area as Nampscoscock. According to 1640 land records, a sagamore of that community was "Thomas" Chabinock. 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). Due to Abenaki Indian resistance to colonial expansion, European settlers abandoned the town by 1689 and did not return for at least ten years. The Wabanaki Confederacy again expelled English from the area from 1703 to 1717, and continued violent resistance to colonization until the end of King George's War in 1748. Indian settlements continued to be present and interspersed with English colonial settlements during that time and later during Maine statehood. When the United States Congress was debating the Indian Removal Act, residents of Kennebunk sent to Congress a statement advocating for the preservation of Indian rights and property. A settlement of Penobscot and Passamaquoddy continued until at least the 1880s. 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…

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of , of which 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 Cape 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. 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. This climatic 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 system, Kennebunkport has a humid continental climate, abbreviated Dfb on climate maps. * Biddeford (north) * Kennebunk (southwest) * Arundel (west) The Rachel Carson National Wildlife Refuge 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.

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• American herring gull, Smithsonian Gull

  Larus smithsonianus Coues, 1862 · Aves
  21,952
• American Crow

  Corvus brachyrhynchos C.L.Brehm, 1822 · Aves
  19,854
• Black-capped Chickadee

  Poecile atricapillus (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  17,508
• Song Sparrow

  Melospiza melodia (A.Wilson, 1810) · Aves
  17,305
• American Goldfinch

  Spinus tristis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  17,180
• Northern Cardinal

  Cardinalis cardinalis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  14,535
• House Finch

  Haemorhous mexicanus (P.L.Statius Müller, 1776) · Aves
  13,090
• Double-crested Cormorant

  Phalacrocorax auritus (Lesson, 1831) · Aves
  12,971

Largest nearby schools

• Kennebunk High School
  High · Kennebunk · 756 students · 12.2:1 ratio
• Biddeford High School
  High · Biddeford · 712 students · 13.4:1 ratio
• Biddeford Middle School
  Middle · Biddeford · 631 students · 10.3:1 ratio
• C K Burns School
  Elementary · Saco · 599 students · 13:1 ratio
• Wells Elementary School
  Elementary · Wells · 551 students · 13.1:1 ratio
• Middle School of the Kennebunks
  Middle · Kennebunk · 479 students · 10.6:1 ratio
• Wells Junior High School
  Middle · Wells · 441 students · 11.6:1 ratio
• Wells High School
  High · Wells · 415 students · 11.9:1 ratio

Most recent

• M 3.8 — 2025-01-27
  9 km SE of York Harbor, Maine
• M 2.7 — 2023-12-23
  5 km SW of Chichester, New Hampshire
• M 2.9 — 2023-04-25
  4 km SW of Center Sandwich, New Hampshire
• M 2.6 — 2021-12-07
  38 km SE of Old Orchard Beach, Maine
• M 2.7 — 2020-03-09
  50 km ESE of Old Orchard Beach, Maine
• M 2.7 — 2018-02-15
  0 km SE of East Kingston, New Hampshire