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History · Kenton

Kenton dates to 1796, and 22% of its homes were built before 1940

11 places in town are on the National Register, among them the Aspendale, a National Historic Landmark, and a historic district with 28 buildings. Below: 6 old photos and papers, maps from 1930 on, and the census since 1880.

1796founded
11on the National Register
22%homes built before 1940
6old photos & papers
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Kenton’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Kenton began

When was Kenton founded?

1796

Kenton dates its founding to 1796 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1880.

First census: 107 in 18802020 census: 215230 years
Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1857.The full story ↓

What stands out about Kenton’s past

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

A National Historic Landmark11 places on the National Register, including Aspendale, a National Historic Landmark.A historic districtThe Kenton Historic District takes in 28 historic buildings.Deep rootsEstablished in 1796: 230 years of Kenton.
★ What stands out · On the National Register

11 listings protect 57 historic buildings

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving. One is a National Historic Landmark, the highest tier.

places listed
11
National Historic Landmark
1
Aspendale
historic buildings protected
57
each building in a district counts
first listed
1970
Aspendale
Cooper HouseGreen Mansion HouseKenton Post Office, built 1881Kenton Historic DistrictWright-Carry House
BuildingsDistricts★ landmark

Architectural styles listings

Italianate3
Queen Anne3
Gothic Revival2
Vernacular2
Georgian Style1
Federal1
★ Landmark
AspendaleGeorgian Style
Cooper HouseBuilding
SomervilleBuilt 1806
Clark-Pratt HouseGothic Revival
Green Mansion HouseBuilding
James Williams HouseFederal · Built 1848
Kenton Post OfficeItalianate · Built 1881
W. D. Burrows HouseBuilding
All 11 listings
Kenton Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 1983George Arnold HouseBuilding · listed 1983Wright-Carry HouseBuilding · listed 1983

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

Timeline

Kenton, 1796 to 1970

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

  1. 18th century
  2. 1796
    FoundingKenton is established
  3. 19th century
  4. 1806BuiltSomerville is built
  5. 1848BuiltJames Williams House is built
  6. 1857Post officeThe Kenton post office opens
  7. 1881BuiltKenton Post Office is built
  8. 20th century
  9. 1930Born hereEleanor Foraker is born here
  10. 1930On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  11. 1933In the archiveHABS DEL,1-KENT.V,2- (sheet 1 of 2) - Arnold Smokehouse, Route 42
  12. 1970LandmarkAspendale named a National Historic Landmark
The story

How Kenton came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Kenton.

Read it all →

The Village of Kenton is a crossroads community located at the intersection of Route 42 and Route 300 in Kenton Hundred, Delaware. The village dates from the last decade of the 18th century, but did not achieve its peak until the last half of the 19th century when the Delaware and Maryland Railroad line was put through from Clayton to Maryland.

Kenton was first laid out in 1796 by Philip Lewis who had begun to acquire property in the area five years before in 1791. The community was first known as Georgetown, then as Lewis Crossroads and finally, in 1806, by the name of Kenton.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Kenton, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1930s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1930s4 items
HABS DEL,1-KENT.V,2- (sheet 1 of 2) - Arnold Smokehouse, Route 421933HABS DEL,1-KENT.V,2- (sheet 1 of 2) - Arnold Smokehou…HABS DEL,1-KENT.V,2- (sheet 1 of 2) - Arnold Smokehouse, Route 421933HABS DEL,1-KENT.V,2- (sheet 1 of 2) - Arnold Smokehou…HABS DEL,1-KENT.V,2- (sheet 2 of 2) - Arnold Smokehouse, Route 421933HABS DEL,1-KENT.V,2- (sheet 2 of 2) - Arnold Smokehou…HABS DEL,1-KENT.V,2- (sheet 2 of 2) - Arnold Smokehouse, Route 421933HABS DEL,1-KENT.V,2- (sheet 2 of 2) - Arnold Smokehou…
1940s–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
Date unknown2 to date
Arnold Smokehouse, Route 42Date?Arnold Smokehouse, Route 42Aspendale, Route 300 (Downs Chapel)Date?Aspendale, Route 300 (Downs Chapel)
Today10 recent
THOMAS DAVIS HOUSE2019THOMAS DAVIS HOUSETHOMAS ATTIX HOUSE, KENT COUNTY DE2019THOMAS ATTIX HOUSE, KENT COUNTY DET. H. DENNY HOUSE, KENT COUNTY, DE2019T. H. DENNY HOUSE, KENT COUNTY, DESOMERVILLE, KENT COUNTY, DE2019SOMERVILLE, KENT COUNTY, DEPOINSETT HOUSE2019POINSETT HOUSEJEFFERSON LEWIS HOUSE2019JEFFERSON LEWIS HOUSEGREEN MANSION HOUSE2019GREEN MANSION HOUSECOOPER HOUSE2019COOPER HOUSECLARK PRATT HOUSE, KENT COUNTY, DE2019CLARK PRATT HOUSE, KENT COUNTY, DEDEMap-doton-Kenton2004DEMap-doton-Kenton
On the map

Kenton on the map, 1930 to 1993

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

Kenton on the 1930 USGS mapKenton on the 1955 USGS mapKenton on the 1993 USGS map1930Wyoming 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 Kenton.

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.

HABS DEL,1-KENT.V,2- (sheet 1 of 2) - Arnold Smokehouse, Route 42
Retake this viewHABS DEL,1-KENT.V,2- (sheet 1 of 2) - Arnold Smokehouse, Route 42, 1933

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

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Kenton, census by census

010020018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 261

Between 107 and 261 people in every census since 1880.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

Help out

Start Kenton’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Date a photo2 archive items have no date. Guess the decade.+2Retake an old viewHABS DEL,1-KENT.V,2- (sheet 1 of 2) - A…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10

Questions about Kenton’s history

What year was Kenton founded?

In 1796, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Kenton’s post office opened in 1857, and the census of 1880 counted 107 people here.

What is on the National Register in Kenton?

11 listings: 10 buildings, among them the Aspendale (a National Historic Landmark since 1970), and 1 historic district, the Kenton Historic District, with 28 contributing buildings. 57 historic buildings in all.

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 (14), the Library of Congress (2), Wikidata (3), the National Register of Historic Places (11), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.