Kenilworth is located on land annexed to the City of Edmonton in 1960. The southern portion of the annexation, which lies along the CPR right-of-way to Fort Saskatchewan, became an industrial subdivision. The Kenilworth neighbourhood is located in the northern portion of the annexed land.
Kenilworth is predominantly a residential area, with the exception of a commercial corridor along Whyte (82nd) Avenue at the southern boundary. The businesses in this corridor are not oriented towards the neighbourhood; they draw on a wide trade area for their clientele, and are separated from residential development by a landscaped buffer at the eastern end of the neighbourhood. Most commercial buildings in the area were built during the 1970s.
The majority of structures in Kenilworth are owner-occupied single-detached dwellings built during the 1960s. A small number of two-, three-, and four-unit housing structures are scattered through the neighbourhood. A central school/park site defines the core of the neighbourhood. Kenilworth has three schools, two major parks, and a sports facility (the Kenilworth Arena). Since Kenilworth is bounded on each side with a major traffic routes, neighbourhood residents have good road access to several major shopping and employment centres.
This neighbourhood was named in the early 1900s and appears on some of the earliest maps of Edmonton. Kenilworth was named after the town and castle of Kenilworth in Warwickshire, England. The castle of Kenilworth was built in 1122.
