James Claflin - Lighthouses and Life Saving along the Massachusetts Coast

A. O. Besses Antiques, pictured c. 1930, was built in Kennebunk c. 1880 for the Fairfield family. It was later bought by the water company to allow the construction of a standpipe, seen on the far left. Albert O. Besse operated the antique shop here from 1926 to 1940. In 1945, Besse died in Bridgeton at age 81. Later owners opened the home as a guesthouse called the Three Maple Inn for the large maple trees seen here. Today, Victorian Lighting is located on this site.

In October 1940, the Kennebunk Star reported: Alfred Garrett is making an addition to his house on York Street which will provide a dining room 18 x 18 feet and a kitchen 10 x 23 feet. He is also building 3 cabins in the field at the rear of his house. Garrett expanded the complex until it appeared as it does in this postcard. The front arch, with its row of lights, must have been impressive when lit up at night. He sold the house to the Garry family in 1953.

York Street is shown in this southward view toward Wells c. 1905. Varneys Plow Works appears on the right. Fred B. Tuck opened an antique shop on the site after he married Varneys daughter. Electric trolley line tracks are visible along the right side of the road.

Pictured c. 1910, this home on the corner of York and Hall Streets once belonged to Woodbury Hall, who had been a stagecoach driver in the Kennebunks. Hall Street is named after him. The home was built or moved to this site after 1875. The women in this view may be members of the Penny family, who lived here in the early 20th century.

The Lafayette Elm was the second-largest elm in the state, at 131 feet tall and with a girth of 17 feet 3 inches. It died from Dutch elm disease and was taken down in the early 1970s. The tree was named for General Lafayette, who visited Kennebunk in 1817 and supposedly had lunch under the elm.

The Greenleaf Hotel was originally a private home built in 1806 by Samuel Low, who sold the unfinished building to Enoch Hardy the following year. Sometime before 1909 it was an inn called the Blue Dragon.