First settled in 1621, the town developed as a trading and, later,
shipbuilding and shipping center with light manufacturing. It was part of the
town of Wells until 1820, when it incorporated as a separate town.
"Kennebunk, the only village in the world so named," was featured on
a large locally famous sign attached to the Kesslen Shoe Mill on Route One. To
the Abenaki Indians, Kennebunk meant "the long cut bank," presumably
the long bank behind Kennebunk Beach. Kennebunk's coastline is divided into
three major sections. Mother's Beach, Middle Beach or Rocky Beach, and Gooches
Beach or Long Beach. Separate from
