Kemper Center began in the 1860s as the private home and grounds of Wisconsin's first senator, Charles Durkee. In 1865, Senator Durkee made his property available to the Kenosha Female Seminary. 1870 saw this boarding school for girls, St. Clair’s Hall, become Kemper Hall. Then, for over one hundred years, the site was an Episcopal girls' school - Kemper Hall - run by the Sisters of Saint Mary. As the school grew, the sisters added buildings. The school was named in honor of Bishop Jackson Kemper, the first missionary bishop for the Northwestern Territory of the American Episcopal Church.

The school closed in 1975 and fortunately, the grounds and buildings were saved from private development when the campus became a Kenosha County park in 1976 and Kemper Center, Inc. assumed management. When Janet Lance Anderson, a 1910 graduate of Kemper Hall, died in 1989, she deeded her home, which is adjacent to Kemper, to Kemper Center. Today her French Revival mansion is the Anderson Arts Center, a vital part of Kemper Center. Kemper Center is listed on the national register of historic places.

Each year thousands of people visit the Kemper grounds and programs.  Whether it is a jazz concert, a classical music series, a new art exhibit, a wedding, business, civic or social meeting, employer training, workshops, tennis match, soccer match, Christmas at Kemper, or just a day in the park, Kemper Center offers much for everyone!