OUR LATEST NEWS

KHS FREE SUMMER CONCERT SERIES - EVERY SATURDAY
JUNE 13 THROUGH SEPTEMBER 26, 2009

We have a great line up for our annual Summer Concert Series. Held each Saturday from June 13 through September 26, 2009 from 10:00 - 11:00 a.m. across from the Kensington Train Station Farmers' Market.

Upcoming concert events include: Ellen Cherry on June 20, Old School Country Bluegrasson on June 27 and, on July 4 - at a special time (10:30-noon) - Silver Creek (The O'Malleys)! Click here for a complete schedule you can print out and put on your refrigerator!

KENSINGTON SECTOR PLAN UPDATES

  • June 17th Fred Boyd from the Planning Board staff will hold office hours open to the public at the Kensington Town Hall 6:30 to 8:00.
  • June 22nd  The Kensington Town meeting will focus on a presentation and discussion of the Kensington Sector Plan.  Check www.TOK.MD.Gov for an agenda update and time.  Meeting times are generally 7 PM at the Town Hall. To view the current Draft Kensington Sector Plan presented to the Planning Board May 21st click here

THANK YOU FROM JULIE O'MALLEY

Congratulations to all for a successful "Artful" Garden Party!  What a treat to have the added bonus of the Montgomery Art Association's Kensington Art Exhibit!  Special thanks to Co-Chairs Sigrid Doherty and Elisenda Sola-Sole for coordinating a wonderful event and inviting the MAA to join us.  On beyond the planning stages though, this annual event would not take place without the help of a significant number of people!  Someone has to take the reservations and make name tags (thanks Margaret Bugler and Connie Kelly), man the check-in table (thanks Madge Darneille, Elise Brownell, Maureen Conley, Jim Engel, and Ann Pfautz), purchase drinks and serve them (thanks TJ O'Malley, Steve and Colleen Cohen, Sue Mathias), loan us tents, tables and chairs (thanks to Ed Kelly, Barry Peoples, the Town of Kensington, and Tracy Furman at the St. Paul's Methodist Church), set up, take down AND return those very same items (thanks to Al Lacey, Alice Kessler, Jake, Elisenda Sola-Sole, Barry Peoples, Leanne Pfautz, TJ O'Malley, Gary Ditto), and of course take a photographic record (thanks Gary Ditto, and Laura-Leigh Palmer).  We thank all of the volunteers who donated time and talent and delicious food!  What would a garden party be without flowers?  Thanks to Sigrid Doherty for coordinating the beautiful arrangements of flowers from gardens all over town!  Thanks to Alison Oppenheim, Shiela Dinn, Maureen Conley, TJ (& Julie) O'Malley, Ida Yoder, Sharon Scott and Angie Freeman for their gardening expertise and colorful arrangements. 

I'd also like to note that we were joined by State Delegates Al Carr and Jeff Waldstreicher, County Councilmember Nancy Floreen, Garrett Park Mayor Chris Keller, Planning Board Vice-Chair John Robinson, Director of Parks Mary Bradford, and our own Town Councilmembers Mary Donatelli and John Thompson, as well as Helen Wilkes of the Kensington Land Trust. 
Thanks to the Montgomery Parks Department for sprucing up the grounds for our event. And especially, thanks to everyone who attended.  It wouldn't have been a party without you!

Sincerely,
Julie O'Malley
KHS President

We are now hand delivering our WALKING TOUR OF KENSINGTON 2009 to members and all Town residents.  We hope you enjoy this extra benefit from the Kensington Historical Society.  Additional copies can be purchased for $3.00 at All Things Considered, Kensington Row Bookshop, Johnson’s, Sub*Urban, Old Town Market, the Town Hall office, Kensington Pharmacy, and Hardware City.

CONGRATULATIONS to CARL MAHANEY and LAURA PILLETTE who received an Historic Preservation Award from Montgomery Preservation Inc. for the work on their home. http://www.montgomerypreservation.org

The 2010 CALENDAR COMMITTEE will be meeting in June.  To get involved, please email info@kensingtonhistory.org or call 240-423-2827.

Our ANTIQUES ROAD SHOW returns again this year September 22nd.  Details to follow.

MAY 2009 NEWSLETTER AVAILABLE ONLINE!

 

 

We are proud to announce our newest publication - hot off the presses: A Walking Tour of Kensington 2009. The Kensington Historical Society Walking Tour committee has worked long hours over the past year, researching, editing, revising and researching some more, to bring you a new and expanded version of our Walking Tour, first produced in 1994. We have added more information about our history as a town, about our parkland, and about our early business district. It includes a Chronological History tree and 1994 Subdivision Map. These booklets will be distributed free to all 2009 paid members of the society as well as to all Town residents. We hope you will enjoy leaning more about your community!

The Society is grateful to all committee members: Sheila Dunne, Harley Higgins, Ann Pfautz, Trammell Maury, Julie O’Malley, T.J. O’Malley and Barbara Scharman. We also acknowledge those who contributed to the first edition, as well as inspiration from Edith Saul, the Society’s first unofficial “archivist.”

This publication was financed in part by the Montgomery County Historic Preservation Commission Grant Fund which is administered by the HPC and the Montgomery County Planning Board of the M-NCPPC. Printing by Knowles Printing of Kensington. Additional copies may be purchased from the Historical Society and local shops for $3.00.

Warner Circle Update (March 2009)

At the Town Meeting on February 23, 2009, Ms. Sandberg, the Town Council, and residents discussed how to combine the office space use and storage use for the Parks Department, public use of parts of the mansion and carriage house, and the possibility of a new addition to the mansion to accommodate MNCPPC needs including an elevator.

The Vision of Kensington is a long-range preservation plan for the Kensington Historic District. These Guidelines are used by the Historic Preservation Commission when they review Historic Area Work permits (HAWPs) for this District.

BECOME A MEMBER OF KHS

See our Archive page for an INDEX to the Kensington Picture History book.

See our Archive page for information on how to obtain the KENSINGTON PLAT (c. 1890). Proceeds benefit KHS.

Kensington Historical Society

In the beginning...

Founded in 1977 by local citizens who were concerned about the effect of the area's intensifying development on the historic fabric of Kensington, the Society counts among its major purposes:

  1. Safeguarding the heritage of the Community of Kensington by preserving a record of its cultural, social, economic, political, and architectural history.
  2. Promoting the preservation, protection, and restoration of districts, sites, buldings, structures, and objects that reflect the history of the education, welfare, and pleasure of its residents.
  3. Promoting the preservation of open space within the community for historic, recreation, and scenic purposes.

Efforts by the Society were instrumental in having Kensington listed on the National Register and designated as a Montgomery County Historic District. The Society remains active in historic preservation activities today.

For more information about the Society, address inquiries to the Kensington Historical Society, PO Box 453, Kensington, MD 20895. Visit the Support page to see how to become a member.