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History · Kensington

Kensington’s post office opened in 1840, and 13% of its homes were built before 1940

4 places in town are on the National Register. Below: 4 old photos and papers and maps from 1892 on.

1840first post office
4on the National Register
13%homes built before 1940
4old photos & papers
2famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Kensington’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Kensington began

When was Kensington founded?

1840

The Kensington post office opened in 1840, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 9,962186 years
Founding year: the first Kensington post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

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 writtenOnly 4 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Deep rootsA post office since 1840: 186 years of Kensington.Landmarks on the Register4 places on the National Register.Old housesHalf of Kensington’s homes were built before 1962.
★ 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
2 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewSoldier's monument: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Timeline

Kensington, 1879 to 1984

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1879Born hereBob Hart is born here
  3. 1892On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  4. 20th century
  5. 1913In the archiveSoldier's monument
  6. 1948In the archiveRodman W. Chamberlain, residence on Moorland Rd., Kensington, Connecticut. LOC gsc.5a15234
  7. 1984Born hereAustin Stowell is born here
On the National Register

4 listings protect 94 historic buildings

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

places listed
4
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
94
each building in a district counts

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

The story so far

Kensington, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Kensington yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Kensington is a census-designated place (CDP) and section of the town of Berlin in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States. The Berlin town offices are located in Kensington. As of the 2020 census, Kensington had a population of 9,962. The Henry Hooker House is a historic home in Kensington.

Its first post office opened in 1840. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 8,459 to 9,962 (+18%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

By decade

Kensington, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1910s to the 1940s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1910s–1940s4 items
Soldier's monument1913Soldier's monumentRodman W. Chamberlain, residence on Moorland Rd., Kensington, Connecticut. LOC gsc.5a152341948Rodman W. Chamberlain, residence on Moorland Rd., Ken…Rodman W. Chamberlain, residence on Moorland Rd., Kensington, Connecticut. LOC gsc.5a152371948Rodman W. Chamberlain, residence on Moorland Rd., Ken…Rodman W. Chamberlain, residence on Moorland Rd., Kensington, Connecticut. LOC gsc.5a152381948Rodman W. Chamberlain, residence on Moorland Rd., Ken…
1950s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
Today8 recent
KensingtonSoldiersMonument12018KensingtonSoldiersMonument1Kensington Soldiers Monument2018Kensington Soldiers MonumentKensington Congregational Church2018Kensington Congregational ChurchBerlinCT HookerSchoolSite2018BerlinCT HookerSchoolSiteDollar General2016Dollar GeneralKensington Congregational Church ca.18522013Kensington Congregational Church ca.1852HenryHookerHouseKensingtonCT2008HenryHookerHouseKensingtonCTKensingtonSoldiersMonument BerlinCT2006KensingtonSoldiersMonument BerlinCT
On the map

Kensington on the map in 1892

The U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Kensington.

Kensington on the 1892 USGS map1892Meriden 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.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Soldier's monument
Retake this viewSoldier's monument, 1913

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Kensington’s page.

Retake this view · +15
Famous people

2 famous people were born in Kensington

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
Austin StowellAmerican actor · b. 1984
Bob HartBaseball umpire · b. 1879
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Berlin5 historic placesB+New Britain21 historic placesA

Questions about Kensington’s history

What year was Kensington founded?

The Kensington post office opened in 1840, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

Memory lane

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

Town Square →
Start a conversation
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). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (11), the Library of Congress (1), Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people and U.S. Geological Survey historical maps. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.