[3] The town is believed to have been named after a place in Scotland, the birthplace of William Ferguson, a London agent for the Illinois Central Railroad during Kinmundy's construction.

[2] The water area consists of Kinmundy Lake, a reservoir 1 mile (1.6 km) west of the city proper.

[6] In April 1857, the town was initially laid out east of the railroad, in 15 blocks of varying sizes, and later, incorporated as a city in 1867.

[6] In 1903 Kinmundy was struck by a fire in the evening that burnt down most of the downtown area, causing the sharpest drop in population in the town's history.

[7] The stately Italianate Calendar Rohrbough House, located on so-called "Quality Hill", is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

[8] The Illinois Central Railroad Water Tower and Pump House was added to the National Register of Historic places in 1998.

[9] The Kinmundy Log Cabin Village is a collection of twelve original pioneer homes[10] rescued in the 1960s from the surrounding local region and reassembled in a wooded area on the edge of the town.

The log cabin village plays host to an annual fall craft fair, during which the village is populated by local volunteers and crafts people in period dress and the authentically furnished homes are open to the public.

[12] Stephen A. Forbes State Recreation Area lies about 5 miles (8 km) southeast of the town and offers trails, camping, hunting, and fishing.