Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 94% of U.S. towns · #27 of 143 in Maine. What drives it
10 places in town are on the National Register, among them four historic districts with 262 buildings between them. Below: 35 old photos and papers, maps from 1885 on, and the census since 1830.
Kennebunkport dates its founding to 1653 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1830.
More historic than 94% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Kennebunkport is more historic than 94% of U.S. towns, #27 of 143 in Maine. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its National Register listings ranks highest and its share of homes from before 1940 lowest.
Maine towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical Maine town has 15.9 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Kennebunkport’s 727 sits above most of its state (99% of Maine towns have fewer) while its 268 historic buildings outnumber those of 95% of U.S. towns.
Founding year: Wikipedia (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
6 decades in the archive, from the 1850s to the 1930s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
1890Club house
1890Kennebunkport, Maine, from ocean bluff
1890Picnic rocks, Kennebunk River
1890On the Kennebunk River
1890Club house, Kennebunk River
1890Boat landing, Kennebunk River
1890Up Kennebunk River from breakwater
1897–1924Detroit Photographic Company (0359) - Kennebunk River…Postcard
1898Picnic RocksPostcard
c. 1930Airplane view of Arundel Point, Kennebunkport, Maine …Postcard
c. 1930Airplane view of Kennebunkport, Maine (73036)Postcard
c. 1930Airplane view of mouth of Kennebunk River and The Col…Postcard
c. 1930Artists at work at Kennebunkport, Maine (82783)Postcard
c. 1930Bath house and bathing beach, Kennebunkport, Maine (6…Postcard
c. 1930Bathing beach, Kennebunkport, Maine (73028)Postcard
c. 1930Beautiful scene on the Kennebunk River, Kennebunkport…PostcardThe country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Kennebunkport’s post office has been open since 1816. Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
From Wikipedia’s history of Kennebunkport.
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.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
BuiltGoat Island Light Station is built
Born hereGeorge Clement Perkins is born here
In the archiveArundel Engine Co. 1850 [Occupational portrait of fire fighters]In the archiveClub house
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
In the archiveOld Fish House, Kennebunk Port [i.e. Kennebunkport], Maine
In the archiveKennebunkport, Maine
In the archiveKennebunk Port, ME; summer home of A. Atwater Kent, [8/11/25]In the archiveAirplane view of Arundel Point, Kennebunkport, Maine (73035)
Born hereDan Goodwin is born here
Born hereEllen Noble is born hereEvery edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Kennebunkport. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Kennebunkport.
Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.
1885Sheet 1 of 2Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
![Arundel Engine Co. 1850 [Occupational portrait of fire fighters]](https://images.townratings.com/story/23592/ce6ae4896c3bb1059b2d-l.jpg)
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Kennebunkport’s page.
Retake this view · +15Lost half of its people between 1840 and 1930, then more than doubled.
20 censuses, 1830–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Kennebunkport’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
In 1653, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Kennebunkport’s post office opened in 1816, and the census of 1830 counted 2,763 people here.
Kennebunkport is more historic than 94% of U.S. towns, #27 of 143 in Maine. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
10 listings: 5 buildings, among them the Capt. Nathaniel Lord Mansion (listed 1973, the first), 4 historic districts with 262 contributing buildings, and 1 structure. 268 historic buildings in all.
13% of Kennebunkport’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.1 points), against a typical 19% for a Maine town; the median home was built in 1982.
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
From Wikimedia Commons (14), the Library of Congress (21), the National Register of Historic Places (10), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
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1911![Kennebunk Port, ME; summer home of A. Atwater Kent, [8/11/25]](https://images.townratings.com/story/23592/148484b01e3c25cbfc07-s.jpg)
1925![Kennebunk Port, ME; summer home of A. Atwater Kent, [8/11/25]](https://images.townratings.com/story/23592/ae8160cad04591a75907-s.jpg)
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