T is for trains and trolleys

The Portsmouth, Saco and Portland (PSP) Railroad opened in 1842.  A depot in West Kennebunk provided an outlet for area farmers needing supplies and wanting to bring their goods to market. 

By the 1860s and 1870s, the rails were no longer just a mechanism for agricultural commerce.  They were also the vehicle for the Kennebunks' newest industry:  tourism. 

Urbanites looking to escape the heat of the cities in summer began to discover the perfect antidote in the southern Maine coastline. 

PSP Railroad was overtaken by the Boston and Maine (B&M) Railroad, and a branch line was run in 1872 from South Berwick to Portland, with a newly-built station in Kennebunk.  A subsequent branch was run from the village to the beaches in 1883.  By 1900, electric trolleys criss-crossed York County, allowing riders to travel inland and to other towns like Old Orchard Beach, Ogunquit and York.  For more information on the history of the trolley lines in this area, you are encouraged to visit The Seashore Trolley Museum in Kennebunkport.

By the 1920s, automobile travel began to eclipse the popularity of using the railways to reach the Kennebunks.

Suitcase

This man’s brown leather suitcase bears the initials “J.S.P” for Mr. Jay S. Perkins of Jersey City, New Jersey. This case—and the two woven-style ones also on display here—are typical of type that would have been carried by the increasing number of tourists and summer visitors to the area in the early 1900s.

Brick Store Museum Collection. Gift of Mrs. H. James Toffey, 1994. 1994.70

Kennebunk Railway Depot Sign

This enamel sign was made in England, c. 1900 and for years demarcated the Kennebunk Railway Depot on Depot Street.

The sign was eventually sold but later found in an antiques shop in the 1990s. It was purchased and returned to the depot building when River Tree Center for the Arts occupied it. When the arts organization moved out and to its present location on Western Avenue in Lower Village, they donated the sign to The Brick Store Museum.

The Kennebunk Railway Depot was restored in 2004 by Dietz Associates, Inc., a creative communications firm. Replicas of this sign adorn the newly refurbished building.

Brick Store Museum Collection. Gift of River Tree Center for the Arts, 2002. 2002.028.0001