Kent is an
unincorporated community
An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...
in
Stephenson County,
Illinois
Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...
. Kent is home to Solutions Bank, K & M Feed Mill, St. Paul's Lutheran Church (
ELCA), Nuestro Queso cheesemakers and Kent Fire Department.
History
Kent was surveyed and platted in 1887 at the same time the
Chicago Great Western Railroad
The Chicago Great Western Railway was a Class I railroad that linked Chicago, Minneapolis, Omaha, Nebraska, Omaha, and Kansas City, Kansas, Kansas City. It was founded by Alpheus Beede Stickney in 1885 as a regional line between Saint Paul, Minn ...
laid its tracks through Stephenson County.
[ When the village was founded it was the only village within its township and it was thought that the area had great potential for growth.][ Kent is probably named for the Reverend Aratus Kent, a traveling evangelist from ]Galena, Illinois
Galena is the largest city in Jo Daviess County, Illinois, United States, and its county seat. It had a population of 3,308 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. A section of the city is listed on the National Register of Historic Plac ...
.[ The post office in present-day Kent was established on July 29, 1850.][Callary, Edward. ''Place Names of Illinois'',]
Google Books link
, University of Illinois Press
The University of Illinois Press (UIP) is an American university press and is part of the University of Illinois System. Founded in 1918, the press publishes some 120 new books each year, thirty-three scholarly journals, and several electroni ...
, 2008 p. 185, ().
Geography
Kent is located in Stephenson County, Illinois
Stephenson County is a county located in the U.S. state of Illinois. According to the 2020 United States census, it had a population of 44,630. Its county seat is Freeport. Stephenson County is included in the Freeport, IL Micropolitan Sta ...
about 12 miles west of Freeport.[ Kent is located in the southwestern part of its township, near the Stephenson- Jo Daviess County line. It is also in proximity to Pearl City.][Fulwider, Addison L. ''History of Stephenson County, Illinois, Volume I'',]
Google Books link
, BiblioBazaar
BiblioBazaar is, with Nabu Press, an imprint of the historical reprints publisher BiblioLife, which is based in Charleston, South Carolina
Charleston is the List of municipalities in South Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of ...
, LLC, 2009 (reprint of public domain material), pp. 362-63, ().
Demographics
According to the 2000 Census, statistics which included the village of Kent and its surrounding zip code area,[See Censu]
reference map
274 people reside within the zip code 61044.
See also
*Battle of Kellogg's Grove
A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force c ...
*Black Hawk War
The Black Hawk War was a conflict between the United States and Native Americans in the United States, Native Americans led by Black Hawk (Sauk leader), Black Hawk, a Sauk people, Sauk leader. The war erupted after Black Hawk and a group of ...
* Kellogg's Grove
References
Further reading
*Keister, Philip Lincoln. ''Kent: For a Century and a Quarter, 1827-1952'', Windmill Publications, 2000 (reprint of 1952 sesquicentennial book), ().
*Knowlton, D.A.
Presbyterianism in Stephenson County, Illinois
, pp. 193–96, Illinois State Historical Society, ''Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society'', vol. 11, 1918.
External links
NACo
Unincorporated communities in Stephenson County, Illinois
Unincorporated communities in Illinois
Populated places established in 1887
{{StephensonCountyIL-geo-stub