The story
Read it all →How Kent came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Kent.
A post office called Kent has been in operation since 1888. The city was named by railroad officials.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
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History · Kent
Kent’s post office opened in 1888, and 63% of its homes were built before 1940
Below: maps from 1904 on and the census since 1910.
1888first post office
0on the National Register
63%homes built before 1940
Quick answers
How Kent began
When was Kent founded?
1888
The Kent post office opened in 1888, the earliest record of the town by name.
First census: 238 in 19102020 census: 65138 years
Founding year: the first Kent post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
What stands out about Kent’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
★ What stands out · Help out
Start Kent’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Kent’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.By decade
No old photos in the archives yet
Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
Add from your albumOn the map
Kent on the map, 1904 to 1985
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Kent. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1904Wahpeton sheet · 1:125,000U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Kent.
People over time
Kent, census by census
Between 65 and 238 people in every census since 1910.
12 censuses, 1910–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Kent’s Wikipedia page.
Famous people
See all →Famous people close to Kent
Nobody well known was born in Kent itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Questions about Kent’s history
What year was Kent founded?
The Kent post office opened in 1888, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Memory lane
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 Wikipedia, 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.