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History · West Kennebunk

West Kennebunk’s post office opened in 1887, and 22% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: 2 old photos and papers and maps from 1891 on.

1887first post office
0on the National Register
22%homes built before 1940
2old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From West Kennebunk’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How West Kennebunk began

When was West Kennebunk founded?

1887

The West Kennebunk post office opened in 1887, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 1,191139 years
Founding year: the first West Kennebunk post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about West Kennebunk’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 2 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 18914 editions of the USGS map, 1891 to 1983. Watch West Kennebunk change.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start West Kennebunk’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how West Kennebunk’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
2 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewDane & Perkins Mill Site: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
On the map

West Kennebunk on the map, 1891 to 1983

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of West Kennebunk. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

West Kennebunk on the 1891 USGS mapWest Kennebunk on the 1941 USGS mapWest Kennebunk on the 1956 USGS mapWest Kennebunk on the 1983 USGS map1891Kennebunk sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of West Kennebunk.

The story so far

West Kennebunk, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of West Kennebunk yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

West Kennebunk is a census-designated place (CDP) in the town of Kennebunk in York County, Maine, United States. As of the 2020 census, West Kennebunk had a population of 1,191. It is part of the Portland–South Portland–Biddeford, Maine Metropolitan Statistical Area.

Its first post office opened in 1887. Its population held steady between the last two censuses: 1,176 in 2010, 1,191 in 2020.

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

Timeline

West Kennebunk, 1891 to 1910

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1891On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  3. 20th century
  4. 1908In the archiveDane & Perkins Mill Site
  5. 1910In the archivePerkins Farm
By decade

West Kennebunk, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1900s to the 1910s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1900s–1910s2 items
Dane & Perkins Mill Sitec. 1908Dane & Perkins Mill SitePerkins Farmc. 1910Perkins Farm
1920s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
Today3 recent
Post Office2012Post OfficeAlfred Road2012Alfred RoadBald-faced hornet nest2011Bald-faced hornet nest
Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Dane & Perkins Mill Site
Retake this viewDane & Perkins Mill Site, c. 1908

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on West Kennebunk’s page.

Retake this view · +15

Questions about West Kennebunk’s history

What year was West Kennebunk founded?

The West Kennebunk post office opened in 1887, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

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). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (5) and U.S. Geological Survey historical maps. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.