Kensington, Michigan | |
|---|---|
Unincorporated community and formervillage | |
  Kensington Location within the state of Michigan | |
| Coordinates:42°30′42″N83°39′33″W / 42.51167°N 83.65917°W /42.51167; -83.65917 | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Michigan |
| County | Oakland |
| Townships | Lyon |
| Settled | 1831 |
| Time zone | UTC-5 (EST) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC-4 (EDT) |
| ZIP code(s) | 48178 (South Lyon) |
| Area code | 248 |
| FIPS code | 26-84240[1] |
| GNIS feature ID | 1627218[2] |
Kensington is anunincorporated community and formervillage inOakland County in theU.S. state ofMichigan. It is located withinLyon Township.
Settled in 1831, Kensington suffered population loss when the railroad diverted the Detroit to Lansing traffic southward toSouth Lyon. The later building ofI-96 and theKensington Metropark in the 1950s caused the community to disappear.[3]
Kensington was settled in 1831 and platted in 1836.[3] On June 9, 1834, a U.S. Post Office opened with the name of Lyon on Kent Lake Road between Grand River Avenue and Silver Lake Road (42°30′42″N83°39′33″W / 42.51167°N 83.65917°W /42.51167; -83.65917). On September 5, 1836, the Lyon Post Office was renamed Kensington.[4] By 1854 it had over 300 residents. With the building of theDetroit, Lansing and Lake Michigan Railroad in 1871 it suffered a significant loss of population that was further accelerated by the building of theMichigan Air Line Railroad in 1882 that went throughNew Hudson.[3] On July 31, 1902, the Kensington Post Office was closed.[4] By 1905 there were only four families left in the village. Most of its buildings were leveled when Kensington Metropark and I-96 (thenUS-16) were built in the 1950s.[3]