Understand
The main reasons to visit are antique shopping at Antique Row, to see the enormous Mormon Temple, the bizarre National Park Seminary, and one great pizza place. Aside from that, it's just a quiet suburban town with some odd quirks. Sections of the "Town of Kensington" are really beautiful, with big old Victorian homes set in a nice community by parks and Antique Row—looking much as it did when Kensington was a summer getaway from the big city.
Usually a quiet little suburb, Kensington made the headlines of the national news three times in one year. First, the mayor banned Santa Claus from the neighborhood in late 2001, citing the separation of Church and State. How on earth can this be possible, you ask? The mayor responded to a complaint that only a Christmas tree was displayed on the grounds of the Town Hall, to the exclusion of other religious symbols. The town government responded by removing the tree. Then, realizing that there were similar grounds for objection to the local fire department flying around the neighborhood with Santa Claus in tow, tossing candy to kids, the Mayor banned Santa Claus from his usual fire engine tour of the town. Following national media attention, there was an enormous Santa Claus protest, where hundreds of Santa Clauses arrived on motorcycles to assure Kensington that St Nick would indeed be coming to town! But what's truly amazing about this whole saga is that the mayor was reelected...
The second and third news events were not so comical, however. In early 2002, a MARC train derailed in spectacular fashion, and injured over one hundred commuters. Fortunately, and somewhat amazingly, no one was killed. Later that year, the D.C. sniper's first day of spree-killing included the murder of a resident, filling up her gas tank at the local Shell.
