in a Pecan Shell|
Once a plantation belonging to William E. Kendall,
it was subdivided after the Civil War and the lots sold to the former slaves.
The community took the name Kendleton.
In 1882 the ambitious but under-financed
New York, Texas and Mexican Railway Company (The "Macaroni" Line) passed through
Kendleton on its way to Victoria.
A post office was granted in 1884 and by 1890 Kendleton had a population of 25.
In 1896 Kendleton had grown to three stores, two churches and was the center of
activity for the estimated 2,000 people who lived in the area. In 1900 116 residents
lived in Kendleton proper.
The population of Kendleton declined to 36
in the mid 1930s and remained between 150 to 200 people through the early 1970s.
Incorporated in 1973, the population increased to 600. Population was 466 in 2000,
increased to the 2007 estimate of 525.
Tx Historical Marker
site on which Kendleton now stands was originally a Mexican land grant to settler
Elizabeth Powell, whose house was an early-day stage stop.
Texas Revolution, in 1836, Santa Anna's Mexican Army camped near here. Later the
settlements of Oak Hill and Humbolt existed briefly.
Kendleton began during
Civil War reconstruction when Wm. E. Kendall sold land, for as little as 50 cents
an acre, to assist freed Negroes in starting their own farms. The rural village
was named in his honor when the railroad came through, 1884.
Park is about a mile south of Kendleton on the San Bernad River. The Old Kendleton
Cemetery is situated among some trees in the the middle of Bates Allen Park..
It is neither marked nor fenced. The New Cemetery is about 3/4 mile south of Kendleton
on the road to Bates Allen. - Barclay
Gibson, March 15, 2010