Crime Scene and Trauma Cleanup in Kenton, OK

Kenton is a census-designated place in far northwestern Cimarron County, Oklahoma, lying in the Cimarron River valley just south of Black Mesa.

Kenton is the only community in Oklahoma that observes Mountain Time, even though that time zone legally begins a few miles west at the New Mexico state line.

Kenton's post office first opened on April 19, 1890 under the name Florence, and it was renamed Kenton on May 12, 1891; the town itself was founded in 1893.

When Oklahoma became a state in 1907, Kenton served as the temporary county seat of Cimarron County, and the building now known as "The Merc" held the county records as the temporary courthouse.

After voters chose Boise City as county seat on June 11, 1908, a group from Boise City confiscated the county records before the 30-day waiting period ended — giving rise to the local legend that Boise City stole the courthouse from Kenton.

The oldest surviving structure in Kenton is a native rock building constructed in 1902, which is now a museum of Oklahoma Panhandle artifacts.

Kenton serves as the unofficial staging point for visitors to Black Mesa, Oklahoma's highest point at 4,973 feet, where dinosaur tracks are preserved in sandstone next to Carrizo Creek.

Black Mesa State Park, which contains Lake Carl Etling, lies southeast of Kenton, and the Preston Monument marking the tripoint of Colorado, New Mexico, and Oklahoma is about 10 miles north-northwest.

Kenton's few businesses include a general store called "The Merc," bed and breakfasts, and guest ranches, and the community supports three church congregations.

Kenton had 17 residents in 9 households at the 2010 census and 31 residents in 2020, in Cimarron County, the least populous county in Oklahoma with 2,296 people in 2020.