He was born on October 27, 1851 in Marshfield, Massachusetts. His parents were Warren Kent, a builder, and Eliza Weston Kent. As a young man in 1875, Kent took a job with John W. Ellis, a Woonsocket engineer who was also the chief engineer of the Providence & Worcester Railroad. In that capacity, Ellis was responsible for the design and construction of the local train station, and Kent may have thus had a hand in the design. He remained with Ellis until 1884, when he opened an office in Woonsocket for the practice of engineering. Later in the 1880s he expanded his practice to include architecture. Later he opened an office in Narragansett Pier, where he would eventually also live on a permanent basis. Kent is also notable as the teacher of Walter F. Fontaine. Kent also trained Roland A. Thayer, an important member of Lockwood, Greene & Co., from 1891 to 1896.
Work
As an architect, Kent generally remained in the mainstream. His early works were in the Romanesque Revival, Queen Anne, and Shingle styles. In the 1890s he utilized the Colonial Revival, and his latest works trended toward the eclectic. Perhaps his most important building was the Woonsocket Opera House, begun in 1887 and completed the following year. The building was used for many functions aside from its auditorium, including functioning as an annex to the Monument House, a neighboring hotel. Lysander W. Elliott, owner of the hotel, also managed the opera house. Designed in the Romanesque style, it was one of the largest buildings yet built in the city. While restoration was being planned, it was destroyed by a fire in 1975. A contemporary, but rural, example of Kent's work is the Rocky Brook Reservoir Pumping Station in Peace Dale, which still stands. In his book Buildings of Rhode Island, architectural historian William H. Jordy calls it "a picturesque attempt for industrial rusticity". The building reuses many of the design moves Kent made in the opera House, but in a more laid back, playful way. It was designed and built in 1889. A later work is the Hope Street School, in the Constitution Hill neighborhood of Woonsocket. Unlike his ornate designs of the 1880s, his work in the 1890s was often marked by severe simplicity. This is exemplified in this school, where the only major ornamental elements are the Doric portico and the heavy cornice. Other than this, the design relies on window openings for architectural interest.
