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When the City of Kent incorporated in 1890, the population was 763. Kent was the
second city in King County to incorporate.
Kent began as an agricultural area. Hops were the first major crop (first planted in 1878), leading to the rapid growth of Kent in its early years. Almost a million pounds of hops were harvested in 1888. Truck farming began in 1917, and during the 1920s, Kent became known as the "lettuce capital of the world."
Annual floods of the Green and White rivers contributed to the agricultural fertility of the Kent valley. During the Great Flood of 1906, the valley turned into a giant lake, as flood waters rose up to two feet in some houses. The White River found a new channel into the Puyallup River, thus alleviating some of the flooding in Kent.
In 1963, the Howard Hanson Dam was completed at Eagle Gorge on the upper Green River, taming most of the flooding. This enabled industrial development to take place on the valley floor, leading to Kent's rapid rise as a major distribution center.
For more information on the history of Kent, Washington, visit the Greater Kent Historical Museum. The museum is furnished with donated period furniture and local historical artifacts.
Kent Today
Within a three mile radius of Downtown Kent, we have:
- Population 84,275
- Number of Employees 67,019
- Number of Businesses 3,695
- Number of Households 30,693
- Average Household Income $81,094
Quick Facts about Kent
- Kent is the Second Largest City in South King County
- Kent is the Fourth Largest City in King County
- Kent is the Eight Largest City in the Sate of Washington
- Kent was selected by Sports Illustrated as Washington State’s top “Sports City”
- Kent was designated by the National Arbor Day Foundation as “Tree City, USA”
- Kent is located halfway between Seattle and Tacoma – 17 miles each way
- Kent is 10 minutes from SeaTac International Airport
- Downtown Kent is easily located from I-5 and adjacent freeway 167
- Kent has an historic main street with great restaurants, specialty retail, office space, parking and 1 mile proximity to almost 12,000 employees
- Kent Station, Kent’s Lifestyle Center project will be a reality in 2005 – to include a 14 multiplex theater, a grocery store, a branch campus of Green River Community College, restaurants and various retail stores
- Kent has No Business and Occupation Tax
- Kent’s residents are health & fitness conscious
- Kent has Sound Transit, a commuter rail service (between Seattle & Tacoma) in Downtown Kent with a rail station parking garage with 890 spaces
- Kent downtown is home to the City’s civic center, City Hall (700 employees), Library, Post Office and the King County Regional Justice Center (700 employees and 150 jurors daily).
- Kent Burnes of Grass Valley, California, a national speaker and a “Downtown Consultant” who has assisted over 275 cities in business and economic development nationwide considers Kent to have an “All American City” feel, rich with opportunity and very pedestrian friendly.
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