The neighborhood was formerly called South Kensington. Like the neighboring Sydney Airport, it was renamed Kingsford in 1936 in commemoration of Australian aviator Sir Charles Kingsford Smith (1897-1935). Kingsford had not been developed prior to the 1920s land boom.

Eileen O’Connor, who is tipped to become Australia’s second Catholic saint, had her casket opened on December 19, 1936, at 347 Anzac Parade, Kingsford, a funeral house. Despite Eileen’s 1921 passing, the body was discovered to be incorrupt. The corpse was placed back in the Our Lady’s Nurses for the Poor House in Coogee, an organization that Eileen had started.