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B+History
History · Kensington

39% of Kensington’s homes were built before 1940

More historic than 68% of U.S. towns · #66 of 847 in California. What drives it

Below: maps from 1895 on and the census since 1970.

0on the National Register
39%homes built before 1940
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Photo: University of California, Berkeley - College of Environmental Design · Public domain
Quick answers

About Kensington’s history

How historic is Kensington?

B+

More historic than 68% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Kensington’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Kensington is more historic than 68% of U.S. towns, #66 of 847 in California. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.

B+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Kensington’s overall grade.
Founding eraNo founding year we can rely on, so the grade uses the other two–Homes built before 194038.6% of homes (±5.2) · typical CA town 3.4% · U.S. 8.4%ANational RegisterNo listings counted · typical CA town 0.0 per 10,000 · U.S. 2.4C
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 68%
NewerOlder
California towns of 2,500+ (847)Ahead of 92%

Few California towns list much on the Register (a typical California town has 0.0 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Kensington’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (31% of California towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on two of the three inputs, so a change in either one moves the letter more than it would with three. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±5.2 points).

Founding year: our sources. Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →

What stands out about Kensington’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Kensington are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 18958 editions of the USGS map, 1895 to 1993. Watch Kensington change.Old housesHalf of Kensington’s homes were built before 1945.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Kensington’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Kensington’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
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On the map

Kensington on the map, 1895 to 1993

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Kensington. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Kensington on the 1895 USGS mapKensington on the 1915 USGS mapKensington on the 1947 USGS mapKensington on the 1959 USGS mapKensington on the 1968 USGS mapKensington on the 1973 USGS mapKensington on the 1980 USGS mapKensington on the 1993 USGS map1895San Francisco sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Kensington.

The story

How Kensington came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Kensington.

Read it all →

The area that is now Kensington was originally the territory of the Huchiun band of the Ohlone Indigenous people who occupied much of the East Bay of the San Francisco Bay Area. The Pedro Fages mapping expedition passed through the area in 1772.

In 1823, the Republic of Mexico granted Rancho San Pablo, an extent of land lying north of Cerrito Creek and the Rancho San Antonio, including that portion of land that is now Kensington, to Francisco María Castro, a veteran of the Mexican Army and former alcalde of San José. In 1831, his youngest son, Victor Castro, inherited the southern portion of the rancho, including what is now Kensington.

In 1892, Anson Blake purchased a portion of Castro's land, most of which is now Kensington.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

From the old history books

What they wrote about Kensington in 1888

Passages that mention Kensington, cut from the printed page as they were published.

Since the publication of Faulkner's work in 1820, no history of Kensington pretending to accuracy or completeness has been produced. This sumptuous work contains full and descriptive accounts of the parish of Kensington and the adjoining Palace and Gardens, with the changes and improvements of the …
Kensington picturesque & historical1888Read the page →
Read the text

Since the publication of Faulkner's work in 1820, no history of Kensington pretending to accuracy or completeness has been produced. This sumptuous work contains full and descriptive accounts of the parish of Kensington and the adjoining Palace and Gardens, with the changes and improvements of the past half century or more ; notices of Kensington celebrities and of the great national institutions which have sprung up at Kensington Gore and Brompton Park ; and a fund of discursive

Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Kensington Gore, strictly speaking then, is the triangular space intercepted between the parish boundarj' and the high road.
Kensington picturesque & historical1888 · page 9Read the page →
Read the text

Kensington Gore, strictly speaking then, is the triangular space intercepted between the parish boundarj' and the high road.

Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.

Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

By decade

Kensington, decade by decade

Today12 recent
Public mid-block path2022Public mid-block pathPublic mid-block path 22022Public mid-block path 2Kensington Library 42022Kensington Library 4Kensington Library 32022Kensington Library 3Kensington Library 22022Kensington Library 2Kensington Circus or Colusa Circle2022Kensington Circus or Colusa CircleHilltop Elementary2022Hilltop ElementaryCommercial district at Arlington & Amherst2022Commercial district at Arlington & AmherstArlington Community Church2022Arlington Community ChurchArdmore Path2022Ardmore PathArdmore Path2022Ardmore PathArdmore Path, Kensington, California 22022Ardmore Path, Kensington, California 2
People over time

Kensington, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,5003,0003,5004,0004,5005,0005,5006,0006,500198020002020Peak: 5,823

Between 4,936 and 5,823 people in every census since 1970.

6 censuses, 1970–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Kensington’s Wikipedia page.

Famous people

Famous people close to Kensington

Nobody well known was born in Kensington itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
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Ben AffleckAmerican film actor, director and screenwriter · b. 1972
Ursula K. Le GuinAmerican fantasy and science fiction author · b. 1929
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Billie Joe ArmstrongAmerican rock musician · b. 1972
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Mark HamillAmerican actor · b. 1951
Rebecca RomijnAmerican actress and model · b. 1972
Mahershala AliAmerican actor · b. 1974
Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

El CerritoIts storyC−Berkeley63 historic placesARichmond12 historic placesB−Albany1 historic placeB

Questions about Kensington’s history

How does Kensington rank for history?

Kensington is more historic than 68% of U.S. towns, #66 of 847 in California. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.

How old are the homes in Kensington?

39% of Kensington’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.2 points), against a typical 3.4% for a California town; the median home was built in 1945.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
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Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

From Wikimedia Commons (12), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.