Kent

Kent is a city in King County, Washington, in the Green River valley south of Seattle. It was named after the county of Kent in England, which was then the main hop-growing region of Britain, because the valley grew hops for brewers.

The valley was settled by farmers in the 1850s, and a railway line through it brought a town that was incorporated in 1890. After the hop crop failed to pests in the 1890s, the valley turned to dairy farms and vegetables, and in the 1920s Kent shipped so much head lettuce that it called itself the lettuce capital of the world. The Howard Hanson Dam, finished in the 1960s upstream on the Green River, ended the floods of the valley floor and opened it to warehouses and factories.

Blue Origin, the rocket company founded by Jeff Bezos, has its head office and engineering center in Kent. Oberto, a maker of beef jerky and meat snacks, is also based in the city. Boeing builds parts of space vehicles at its site in the valley.

The Seattle Thunderbirds play junior ice hockey at the accesso ShoWare Center, an arena in the downtown, and won the Western Hockey League title in the 2010s. The Green River Trail follows the river through parks and farmland along the valley. Lake Meridian Park, on the east hill, has a swimming beach and a fishing pier. Each July the Cornucopia Days festival fills the downtown streets with a parade, food stalls and a craft fair. Kent Station, a shopping area beside the commuter rail stop, holds restaurants and a college campus.