Welcome to My Kennebunks! 

Join me in researching the history of Arundel, Kennebunk, Kennebunkport, Ogunquit and Wells, Maine.  I apologize for the name of the website.  My interests have wandered beyond what my domain name implies.

Source material and links to additional web resources for the Old News column in the York County Coast Star can be found here as well as for selected local history articles previously published in the Kennebunk Post, the Kennebunkport Historical Society and elsewhere.

I use every research resource available, often traveling to gain access to conventional resources at town offices, libraries, historical societies, Registry of Deeds, Registry of Probate, Maine State Archives, Massachusetts Archives, etc.  Many rare resources have recently been scanned into Internet databases. The fact that exact reproductions of original documents are online does not make the information contained within them any less valid than when only those able to travel to Augusta and wear a pair of white gloves or those fortunate enough to purchase that 17th century treasure were privy to it.  Global Keyword Search has revolutionized research and anyone who dismisses that fact has their head deeply buried in the sand.  I'm not talking about citing opinions of amateur webmasters like myself but lets not throw the baby out with the bathwater (a horrible expression, I know, but exactly what I mean).  Don't get me wrong. I love old books.  Nothing thrills me more than to hold one in my hands and savor its bounty, but given the choice between searching the contents of more than 1,000,000 books, page by page, one at a time or letting Google Books do it for me one time, all at once, the answer seems obvious to me.   When scholarly new resources relevant to our history become available online I want to share them.  Perhaps your knowledge of local history will allow you to see a connection that I missed.  History belongs to everyone. The truth is not always pretty but it does belongs to all of us.  There is nothing elitist or proprietary about it.   

Email Sharon

Stage Island Fort

Kennebunkport Playhouse Priest Shoots Photographer Out of North Kennebunkport Sky Wells Sanitarium was the Pitts

Historic Maps   Out of Print Book Search  Arundel Cemeteries  York Co. Court Index ME Marriage Index ME Death Index

Tips on York County historical and genealogical research  Online and off