The area that is today Kensington was originally colonized by Dutch farmers as part of the town of Flatbush. 

The area remained rural until 1850 when construction of the Coney Island Plank Road, which connected the City of Brooklyn to Coney Island, increased the area’s accessibility.

The United Freeman’s Association initiated development in 1851 by buying the Ditmas and Tredwell family farms and laying out streets. The first residences were then built in the northern end of Kensington and the area was named Greenfield.

Greenfield became Parkville in 1870 and around the turn of the century, the middle of the neighborhood was renamed Kensington after the western borough of London. 

Much of Kensington’s housing was built in the 1920s with higher apartment buildings being built in later years.