“The Kennebunk River Club was founded and the Clubhouse built in 1888, though its real beginning was the ‘Lobster Boat and Canoe Club’ started almost ten years earlier. For three-quarters of a century this has been the boating and yachting center of ‘the Port.’ Here were held the famous ‘water sports; and here originated the wonderful ‘Carnival Night.’ As the river is the real ‘soul’ of Kennebunkport, so is the River Club the real center of summer live at ‘the Port.’”
From the “300th Anniversary of Kennebunkport” Program, 1953