Seagulls, Ocean Path, Acadia National Park, Maine

Kennebunkport, Maine

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 Indian depredations, the town was depopulated by 1689, and not resettled by Europeans again 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 response to its economy becoming one of shipbuilding and trade along the Kennebunk River.
By the 1870s the town had developed as a popular summer destination, with both hotels and homes constructed along its coastline. Cape Arundel, Cape Porpoise and Beachwood (now called Goose Rocks) were some of the early summer colonies (although Cape Porpoise was, and still is, a working fishing harbor).
The Great Fires of 1947, which devastated much of York County, affected Kennebunkport and especially the area of Beachwood (now called Goose Rocks, after nearby Goose Rocks Beach). Much of Beachwood was destroyed by the fire, but it has since recovered and been rebuilt.