Welcome to Kenyon, the Boulevard of Roses.
A hundred rose bushes on Second Street, tended by city crews since 1962.
Businesses
Photos, menus, phone numbers, ratings and the city rules that apply, for every listing in town.
From the prairie to the Boulevard of Roses
Four men platted the village in the summer of 1856. The Chicago Great Western came in 1885 and left in 1968; the depot it left behind is now the park. A miller lit the town in 1896, a furniture maker kept it working after 1948, and a city employee's ten rose bushes in 1962 gave it a name. The account draws on the county histories of 1878 and 1909, the city's records, and the council minutes of the last decade.
How the city works, and how to work with it
Permits, fees, zoning, rentals, utilities, selling to the city, incentives, records. Each rule traced to the ordinance or resolution, with real examples from the council record.
Permits, licenses and fees
The 2026 fee schedule and every form.
RulesZoning, fences and sheds
Eight districts, setbacks, accessory buildings.
RulesSelling to the city
Thresholds, the sealed-bid process, every award since 2019.
PeopleCouncil, staff and boards
Who decides, with terms and contacts.
RecordsMeetings archive
Every packet and recording, 2019–2026.
RecordsOpen threads
Every question asked at a council meeting, and what the records say.
Kenyon Fire Department
The Kenyon Volunteer Fire Department answers every fire and medical call in the city and seven townships, from a station on Centennial Drive, with seven trucks and no full-time firefighters. In 2024 it ran 215 responses and put in 3,112 firefighter hours. It recruits continuously.
Kenyon city data
Census, county assessor, state sales records and the city's own budget, turned into charts and calculators.
Property lookup
Any parcel: owner, five years of value, the 2026 tax bill, the last sale.
Tax estimator
What a house pays to the city and in total.
Utility bill calculator
KMU rates, May 2026.
Kenyon by the numbers
People, property, the levy, the market, the neighbors.
Recent sales
Every recorded sale since 2024.
Housing
For sale, for rent, lots, buyer programs.
Living here
One K–12 campus, a clinic, a city-owned electric utility, a pool, a library, a Main Street with a grocery store, a hardware store and a bank that has been local since 1970. Forty minutes to Mayo. What it is like, with the numbers.
