Kennebunk, whose Native American name means “long cut bank,” likely took its name from Great Hill at the mouth of the Mousam River, an important landmark for coastal travel by canoe. Archaeological excavations indicate that PaleoIndian hunters traveled here seasonally from as early as 11,000 years ago. European fishermen arrived during the sixteenth century but did not settle, and exploration followed with Bartholomew Gosnold landing on the Maine coast in 1602, Martin Pring exploring the mouth of the Kennebunk River in 1603, and Samuel de Champlain visiting Cape Porpoise harbor in 1604 and naming it “Le Port aux Isles.” A 1610 map for London’s Virginia Company clearly showed Cape Porpoise. Kennebunk remained part of Wells until 1820, and one of the first permanent settlers in Wells was John Sanders, who built a home near the mouth of the Mousam River circa 1640. Hostilities between the indigenous Abenaki people and European settlers began, and by 1690 most settlers were temporarily driven out; these uprisings continued until 1760. By 1750, a large permanent settlement was established on the Mousam River at the Larrabee Garrison, and other areas including Kennebunk Landing and Alewive soon developed. With abundant local timber, sawmills and shipyards grew up on both the Mousam and Kennebunk Rivers, and from 1755 to 1918 shipbuilding was Kennebunk’s principal industry. During that period the Mousam River also supported grist mills, papermills, twine manufacture, leather-board manufacture, matting factories, shoe factories, and more. Near the turn of the last century, tourism became the secondary industry as hotels and railroads were built, and it is now the largest industry of the Kennebunks.
