A commemorative issue published by the Kent Reporter
May 22, 2015
Looking back: The original Kent Recorder newspaper office on South First Street, as captured by photographer W.S. Walbridge in about 1891 or 1892. COURTESY PHOTO, Greater Kent Historical Society
KENT CELEBRATES ITS RICH HISTORY, GROWTH REPORTER STAFF
Kent, you’re 125 years old. You started out as a small farming town of hops fields succeeded in time by lettuce crops and dairy farms. Now, hundreds of companies from a Starbucks roasting plan to Recreational Equipment Inc., (REI) to Boeing call you home. “Kent has come a long way since it was first incorporated on May 28, 1890, with a population of 793,” said Kent Mayor Suzette Cooke. “Now, as a hub of innovation with over 124,000 residents, we’re a globally-connected community with so much progress and history to recognize.”
The town, originally referred to as Titusville, first became permanently settled by westerners in the early 1860s along the banks of what was then the White River. Hops were shipped by rail or river from Titusville, though in 1889 folks were calling you Kent, after Kent County in England, a major hops-producing region. But in 1891, an invasion of aphids wiped out your crops. After the turn of the 20th century, you turned to dairy farming, and became home to a Carnation Condensed Milk plant. Flooding from the Green and White
rivers was a constant problem. In 1906, flooding changed the course of the White River, which reduced the flood hazard by half. You continued to have flooding problems until the federal government built the Howard A. Hanson Dam at Eagle Gorge in 1962 along the Green River. During and after the Great Depression, you were known as the “Lettuce Capital of the World.” After World War II, your population grew more rapidly. From 1953 to 1960, you grew twelve-fold. In 1965, Boeing opened a space center in Kent, followed several years later by other
aerospace and high-tech companies. That trend continues today with such companies as Blue Origin, owned by Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos, which aims to one day feature human travel to space. In 1992, the Greater Kent Historical Society formed to promote the discovery, preservation and dissemination of knowledge about your history. In 1996, the city of Kent purchased the historic Bereiter House, home of one of your early mayors, to serve as the Kent Historical Museum, where your 125-year history comes to life.