Ernest Park and War Veterans Memorial

At the southern end of Armory Avenue where it runs into Connecticut Avenue is a triangular-shaped park named after Lucien B. Ernest, (Mayor of Kensington 1926 – 1930, and 1938 – 1940). The land was given to the Town by the State Highway Administration in 1939 after the state reconfigured Connecticut Avenue. Private funds were collected to develop a memorial park which would be maintained by the Town. A memorial was constructed and the park was dedicated in 1948 to Kensington residents who served in World Wars I and II.

In 1967, Kensington’s sister city in England donated four young oak trees descended from the grounds of Winston Churchill’s Blenheim estate in the royal borough of Chelsea and Kensington in London. The trees were a reciprocal gift to the Town, which had given a sweet gum tree to the London borough in 1952 that still stands today. After a special dispensation from President John F. Kennedy via his secretary Evelyn Lincoln (USDA regulations disallow the importation of live plants), who spoke to the president about getting an exception through the Sister City Act, the trees were planted in Ernest Park. Unfortunately, none of the historic oaks survive today.

The memorial was destroyed by an errant automobile in 2001, but was rebuilt and still includes the original base and urn, as well as the ‘eternal light’ on top of the urn. It was rededicated on May 18, 2002, to those from Kensington who served in the Armed Services. In the spring of 2008, local artist and landscaper Jason Swain redesigned this area of the park for the Town. He also created a wooden sculpture of an American Bald Eagle as a tribute to our nation’s military and as a symbol of our country.