The embassy opened in central Nairobi on 2 March 1964, when the United States established diplomatic relations with Kenya.

[3][4] On the morning of August 7, 1998, a truck loaded with explosives detonated in a parking lot between the embassy and two commercial, high-rise buildings (both of which contained some offices for US diplomatic staff).

Only 12 of the dead were Americans; most were Kenyans killed when the Ufundi House—a seven-storey office building adjacent to the embassy—collapsed.

[5] In 1999, the federal government convened a group of experts to examine the security of US diplomatic posts worldwide.

The August 7th Memorial Park contains a garden, a sculpture made of debris from the attack, a wall engraved with the names of victims, and a visitor center (built on the site of the Ufundi House).