Experience Historical kent

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• Kent’s Historic Downtown area was first permanently settled by homesteaders in the mid-1850s. The first cash crop was hops.
• · Kent officially incorporated on May 28, 1890 with a population of 763. It was the second city, following Seattle, to incorporate in King County. 
• The City was originally called Titusville. There is still a 'Titusville Station' sign on Gowe Street near First Avenue. 
• Kent Downtown Partnership formed over 20 years ago to help revitalize historical downtown Kent.

1. GKHS, in partnership with KDP, has placed historic plaques on 13 buildings in Kent      Downtown. Most of these buildings have been here since Kent was first      established.  

• Take a stroll around the downtown area and see if you can find the plaques. Kent offers murals by Danny Pierce, sculptures, parks and much more to delight to the eye. Restaurants and clever shops are in abundance.  

 29308 132nd Ave. SE, Auburn, WA 

• Visit the Heritage Center that celebrates the history of the early pioneers that settled the Soos Creek plateau.
• Soos Creek Botanical Garden is a unique pairing of garden and history.
• Stroll through eleven beautifully designed gardens on twenty-two acres.
• Enjoy quiet contemplation​ of nature in the garden and woodlands.  

  742 East Titus Street, Kent, WA

• Mill  Creek Canyon Earthworks is an internationally acclaimed artwork by Bauhaus      master Herbert Bayer.
• The Earthworks is a public park, a storm water detention dam, and a modernist      masterpiece.
• Since its installation in 1982, the Earthworks has been lauded for its fusion of  art and infrastructure, making it a powerful precedent for engineers, landscape architects and artists.
• In 2008, the Earthworks became the City of Kent's first landmark.  

   91st and SE 212th in Kent, WA 

• The first burial in this pioneer cemetery was Margaret  Eunice Olmstead Saar in 1873. 
• There was no other established cemetery in this area contrary to popular rumor so her husband, Peter Saar, continued tradition and buried her on their property. 
• Mr. Saar sold this property to Mary L. Meeker in 1882 reserving the one-acre cemetery. John Nelson bought the cemetery from Mr.  Saar in 1887 and then sold it to the trustees of the Methodist Episcopal Church and their successors.
• It is a historic landmark and closed to burials.   

 27221 156th Ave. SE, Kent, WA    

• The original Meridian Cemetery is believed to be the  first cemetery on the East Hill and was used from about 1875 or 1880 until 1891. 
• This original cemetery is no longer there. 
• The Meridian Cemetery Association was later formed and purchased the current Meridian Cemetery property from a Japanese couple from Seattle .
• According to tombstone inscriptions the first burial  took place in September of 1908. 
• It remains an active cemetery.  

 9231 S. 240th Street Kent, WA 

• The earliest burials appear to be that of Morgan O’Brien and his wife, Catherine, who both died in 1880 according to the tombstone inscription. 
• Mr. Richard O’Connell, an immigrant from Limerick, Ireland, donated the land for the cemetery. Saint Patrick, the Patron Saint of Ireland, was an obvious name chosen for this cemetery, where one  can read from the headstones the names of Mullen, Costello, O’Grady; and  the places of Tipperary, Donegal, and Galway. 
• It remains an active cemetery.