Brick Store Museum

The mission of the Brick Store Museum is to ignite personal connections to local history, art and culture through exhibition, education and programs celebrating the human experience in the Kennebunks and its surrounding areas.

Our vision for the Museum is for this institution to become a place of community, creativity, inspiration, and learning, for those that visit the museum to inspire a better world for all of us.

The Museum was founded in 1936 by American artist Edith Cleaves Barry (1884 - 1969) in a brick-built dry goods store once belonging to her great-grandfather, William Lord. What began as one building has since changed into a museum block of four 19th Century buildings connected inside on Main Street, with a Program Center behind the Museum in a 19th Century house on Dane Street. The Museum is open year-round, employs two staff members, and has been accredited by the American Alliance of Museums. In total, including three-dimensional and archival items, the Museum has over 70,000 items in its collection of the history and culture of our area.

The Brick Store Museum does not receive any federal, state or town funds for its operations, and exists on the generosity of private citizens and grant-funded projects. Any amount that you donate has a direct effect on our abilities to carry out year-round educational programs, exhibitions about our society and history, and outreach into local schools and educational groups.