A post office was established here on July 1, 1880, with Grandville P. Morrison as the first postmaster. The place was named in honor of John Edward Kenna (1848-1893), who served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1879 to 1883 and was later elected to the U.S. Senate, where he served from 1883 to 1893. In 1890, O.J. Morrison, son of Grandville Morrison, opened the first O.J. Morrison store here, which evolved into a statewide chain of locally managed department stores.