The Shire of Kent was first established in 1923 as the Kent Road Board. In 1955 the name was changed to the Nyabing-Pingrup Road Board and retained this name in 1961 when it became a shire. The name was further altered in 1973 to the Shire of Kent.

The name ‘Kent’ apparently comes from the commissariat officer of Dr T. Wilson’s expedition of 1829.

The first white men to visit the area were sandalwood cutters with the first lease of 2000 acres being taken around Cairlocup Lagoon by John Hassell in 1873.

The town of Pingrup was officially gazetted on May 9, 1924. The town of Nyabing was officially gazetted on December 24, 1912 after a name change from Nampup. Nyabing celebrated it’s centenary year in 2012!

The Shire of Kent is fortunate to have had a lot of history preserved within both Nyabing and Pingrup, many old buildings, halls and school sidings still exist in the shire, some of them still in tact. The local community holds these historical memories close to their hearts as many families of the districts original settlers still reside within the shire of family farms.