City Tour of Kensington MD

The Town of Kensington, Maryland is known to its citizens as the Town where "the train still stops and the citizens still walk". The history of Kensington started decades before the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad constructed the Metropolitan Branch line from Washington, DC to Point of Rocks, Maryland in 1873. The Metropolitan Branch line bisected property owned by Mr. and Mrs. George Knowles. The train stopped a Knowles Station in recognition of George Knowles' property. This Station facilitated commerce to Knowles and the other farmers in the immediate area. Soon after the death of Knowles, parcels of land from the estate were sold. A significant portion of the Knowles estate and some of other surrounding land in the vicinity of the Knowles Station provided the natural setting of several hundred houses that emerged into Kensington of today. The name, Kensington did not surface until 1894. By 1890, the village of Knowles Station, as it was known then, experienced rapid growth and its growing governance and infrastructure needs could not be accommodated by the County. In 1894 a bill was introduced into the Maryland legislature to create the municipality known as the Town of Kensington. The Town's governance is through a Mayor and four Town Councilmen a procedure continued through today.

Following the incorporation of the Town of Kensington work started to maintain the muddy streets with planks and oyster shells. Oil Lamps were installed followed by the first brick sidewalks. Cinders replaced the boards and oyster shells in the 1920s and by the 1930s the streets were paved. During these early days wind mills located at most of the properties facilitated hand pumping of well water into individual reservoirs located in the attics of Town buildings for household and business use. Wells and pumps were installed at all properties during the early days of World War I that was followed by a sewer system and in 1922 the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission took over control of the sanitary system. By the end of World War II the Town's infrastructure was completed. The Town's government maintains and improves its streets, sidewalks, lighting, parks, and municipal buildings.

Kensington, located in Montgomery County, is 6.5 km (4 miles) north of the District of Columbia frontier at Connecticut Avenue. Throughout its history, Kensington has retained the charm of a turn-of-the-20th century Victorian community and transportation hub. Its commercial district, representing about a third of its land area features more than 300 businesses, a large number specializing in antiques.

Kensington Links
Town of Kensington
Prince George's County Public Schools