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C−History
History · Kenmore

Kenmore’s post office opened in 1903, and 1 of its places is on the National Register

More historic than 20% of U.S. towns · #184 of 285 in Washington. What drives it

Most of Kenmore was built recently: 2% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1985. Below: 3 old photos and papers, maps from 1953 on, and the census since 1980.

1903first post office
1on the National Register
2%homes built before 1940
3old photos & papers
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Kenmore’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Kenmore began

When was Kenmore founded?

1903

The Kenmore post office opened in 1903, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1998.

First census: 7,281 in 19802020 census: 23,914123 years

How historic is Kenmore?

C−

More historic than 20% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Kenmore post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1998.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Kenmore’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Kenmore is more historic than 20% of U.S. towns, #184 of 285 in Washington. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.

C−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Kenmore’s overall grade.
Founding era1903, from the first post office: founded 1900–1944, an older era than 9% of U.S. townsDHomes built before 19401.8% of homes (±0.8) · typical WA town 4.3% · U.S. 8.4%C−National Register1 listing, 2 historic buildings, 0.8 per 10,000 residents · typical WA town 0.1 · U.S. 2.4B
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 20%
NewerOlder
Washington towns of 2,500+ (285)Ahead of 36%

Few Washington towns list much on the Register (a typical Washington town has 0.1 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Kenmore’s 0.8 sits near the middle of its state (60% of Washington towns have fewer) while its 2 historic buildings outnumber those of 60% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D to C. The pre-1940 share (±0.8 points) is firm at this size. The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date; Wikidata gives 1998.

Founding year: the first post office (other dates in Quick answers). 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 Kenmore’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 3 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages6 hamlets and corners are still on the map.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Kenmore’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Kenmore’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 viewNorth Lake Washington near Kenmore, Was…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Places that used to be

Lost post offices and old corners

Kenmore had its own post office from 1903 to 1973.

Kenmore
1903–1973
19001960today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Inglewood Estates Mobile Home ParkLake Terrace Court Mobile Home ParkLakewood Mobile Home ParkLakewood Villa Mobile Home ParkMoorlandsSarvis Mobile Estates

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

The story

How Kenmore came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Kenmore.

Read it all →

The Sammamish River valley from Lake Washington to Issaquah Creek was historically inhabited by the indigenous Sammamish people (also known as the "s-tah-PAHBSH", or "willow people"), a Coast Salish group with an estimated population of 80 to 200 by 1850. Among them were the "ssts'p-abc" ("meander dwellers"), who settled near the river's mouth at two villages—the larger of which was "tlah-WAH-dees" between modern-day Kenmore and Bothell. The Sammamish were removed from their lands in 1856 following the Puget Sound War and moved to the Port Madison and Tulalip Indian reservations. The forested land that would become Kenmore was then owned by Philo Remington of E. Remington and Sons, who subsequently sold it to son-in-law Watson C. Squire, a former governor of the Washington Territory.

ChaptersEarly 20th centuryGreat Depression, World War II and post-war redevelopment1954–present: Incorporation and downtown revitalization

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Kenmore, 1901 to 1990

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

  1. 20th century
  2. 1901In the archiveNorth Lake Washington near Kenmore, Washington, May 26, 1901
  3. 1903Post officeThe Kenmore post office opens
  4. 1915In the archiveStudents at Kenmore's first school, ca. 1915
  5. 1930BuiltSaint Edward Seminary is built
  6. 1953On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  7. 1973Post officeThe Kenmore post office closes
  8. 1990Born hereAnthony Arena is born here
By decade

Kenmore, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1900s to the 1910s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1900s–1910s3 items
North Lake Washington near Kenmore, Washington, May 26, 19011901North Lake Washington near Kenmore, Washington, May 2…Logs and railroad at Lake Forest Park, ca. 1902c. 1902Logs and railroad at Lake Forest Park, ca. 1902Students at Kenmore's first school, ca. 1915c. 1915Students at Kenmore's first school, ca. 1915
1920s–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
Today14 recent
King County Parks Regional Trails Sign - Flickr - brewbooks2012King County Parks Regional Trails Sign - Flickr - bre…Wrought iron coat stand and umbrella stand2010Wrought iron coat stand and umbrella standUplake-terrace-to-northlake-terrace2007Uplake-terrace-to-northlake-terraceSammamish River Bothell Kenmore WA 022007Sammamish River Bothell Kenmore WA 02Sammamish River Bothell Kenmore WA 012007Sammamish River Bothell Kenmore WA 01Lyon Creek Park to Kenmore 032007Lyon Creek Park to Kenmore 03Lyon Creek Park to Kenmore 022007Lyon Creek Park to Kenmore 02Lyon Creek Park to Kenmore 012007Lyon Creek Park to Kenmore 01Kenmore-cranes2007Kenmore-cranesCement-barge-kenmore2007Cement-barge-kenmoreCement plant 032007Cement plant 03Cement plant 022007Cement plant 02Cement plant 012007Cement plant 01Arrowhead-from-logboom2007Arrowhead-from-logboom
On the map

Kenmore on the map, 1953 to 1973

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

Kenmore on the 1953 USGS mapKenmore on the 1968 USGS mapKenmore on the 1973 USGS map1953Bothell 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 Kenmore.

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.

North Lake Washington near Kenmore, Washington, May 26, 1901
Retake this viewNorth Lake Washington near Kenmore, Washington, May 26, 1901, 1901

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

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

1 historic place in Kenmore

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

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
2
each building in a district counts
first listed
2007
Saint Edward Seminary
Saint Edward Seminary, built 1930
Districts

Architectural styles listings

Late Romanesque1
Saint Edward SeminaryLate Romanesque · Built 1930

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

People over time

Kenmore, census by census

05,00010,00015,00020,00025,00019802000202023,914

Grew from 7,281 people in 1980 to 23,914 in 2020, 3 times over.

5 censuses, 1980–2020.

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Lake Forest Park1 historic placeC+Kirkland8 historic placesC+Bothell7 historic placesC+Seattle226 historic placesA−

Questions about Kenmore’s history

What year was Kenmore founded?

The Kenmore post office opened in 1903, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1998.

How does Kenmore rank for history?

Kenmore is more historic than 20% of U.S. towns, #184 of 285 in Washington. 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.

What is on the National Register in Kenmore?

One place: the Saint Edward Seminary (listed 2007).

How old are the homes in Kenmore?

2% of Kenmore’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 4.3% for a Washington town; the median home was built in 1985.

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).

From Wikimedia Commons (17), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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.