KENMORE – In 1977, the Singerly Fire Company opened a fire station at Singerly and Providence roads, and in the early planning, the Company referred to it as the Providence Station. That caused a majority of the residents in the area to petition the county commissioners, asking that the area at the corner be known as Kenmore rather than having it referred to as Providence Coroner, Providence, Andora, or Fair Hill. Thus, on Feb. 28, 1977, the commissioners officially designed this community as Kenmore.
The Kenmore name had been around for decades. In the 1920s, the northeastern corner of the County needed a modern high school to relieve overcrowding at Elkton and supplement the small one-room primary schools in the area. With the Board of Education developing plans for a facility, the Kenmore Papermill in Providence donated land at the corner of Providence and Singerly roads. The company mule barns had been located on this parcel, as mules were used to haul pulp from Elkton to Providence.
With plans coming together, 200 residents petitioned the Board of Education to change the name to Kenmore School since the company donated the land. In March 1924, the Board agreed, naming it Kenmore High School, the Cecil Democrat reported. The contract for the structure was awarded to H. Clay Phillips & Son of Middletown, Del.
The Kenmore School opened in February 1925, and the first class of seniors graduated in June 1925. The commencement was held at the Rock Presbyterian Church. Hazel Emma Ott gave the salutatory, Anna Menagh Castner read an essay, and Corrine Alphonza Patchell gave the valedictory. The Rev John P. Otis gave the address to the seven graduates, their families, and guests. The graduates were Corrine Alphonza Patchell, John Emory Mackey, Helen Beatrice Patchell, Hazel Emma Ott, Anna Mary Stewart, Anna Menagh Castner, and Sara Elizabeth Hathaway.
In 1939, Kenmore’s enrollment was changed to include pupils in first through 11th grades. An addition to the Kenmore School was constructed beginning May 11, 1954, and was opened in January 1955. This new addition was dedicated on March 27, 1955. In 1958, the school’s name was changed to Kenmore Elementary School for first through sixth grades, as the upper grades started attending Elkton High School.