A history of Kensington,
since 1894
Postcards, papers and photographs of Kensington from public archives, woven together by decade. Neighbors fill in the gaps.
The story
from WikipediaRead it all ↗The area around Rock Creek where Kensington is located was primarily agricultural until 1873, when the B&O Railroad completed the Metropolitan Branch across Montgomery County. A community arose where the new railroad line intersected the old Rockville-to-Bladensburg road. This early settlement was first known as "Knowles Station".
In the early 1890s, Washington developer Brainard Warner began purchasing land parcels to build a planned Victorian community, complete with church, library, and local newspaper. Fascinated by a recent trip to London, Warner named his development "Kensington Park", the tenth and largest subdivision in the area. When the town was incorporated in 1894, Warner convinced the mayor and council to name it Kensington.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Timeline
built from the dates on the items belowFinish Kensington’s story
Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.
1 of 10 decades since 1900 have photos 🔁Retake an old viewManor Country Club. House I, Mano…, 1920: stand where they stood+15 📦Share a family photoSign in to add one+10Famous people from Kensington
See all 9 →
Kensington, decade by decade
1990s
1 historic place in Kensington
Kensington has 1 listing on the National Register, and they protect 149 historic buildings, because Kensington Historic District alone counts 149.
Where they are
Architectural styles
When they were listed
Then & now
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as Manor Country Club. House I, Manor Country Club (1920) and it appears here side by side.
🔁 Retake this view · +15Stories next door
nearby towns’ historyFrom the Library of Congress (5). Images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.