Most of Kensington Township was built recently: 9% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1977. Below: maps from 1963 on and the census since 1890.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Kensington Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Park River is a city in Walsh County, North Dakota, United States. The population was 1,424 at the 2020 census. Park River was founded in 1884. Park River was named after the river Park River. The controversial and often peripatetic father of John D. Rockefeller, William Avery Rockefeller, lived for a time on a 160-acre ranch in Park River that his son had purchased for him. The senior Rockefeller lived in the town through the 1890s, even after the original property was sold by his son in 1889. In 1903, a Park River blacksmith named Samuel Holland built a motor car called the Holland Special. He built at least five more cars between 1903 and 1908.
Kensington Township was established in 1884. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 244 to 277 (+14%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Kensington Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1963Park River sheet · 1:24,000
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Kensington Township.
People over time
Kensington Township, census by census
Between 534 and 1,844 people in every census since 1890.
14 censuses, 1890–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Kensington Township’s Wikipedia page.
Places that used to be
Places now gone and burying grounds
Gone or out of use
Kensingtonlocale
1cemetery inside Kensington Township
Hyde Park
Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Stories next door
History across the town line
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
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 (3), U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia) 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.
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