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The area was settled during the 1860s or 1870s at the site of a mineral-water well. Although, some early settlers had already been living on vast acreage and raising cotton crops and livestock, several years prior to this. A post office opened in 1884. The town site was surveyed in 1886 and named for Oliver S. Kennedy, who platted it and, in an effort to induce rail construction through the new community of Kennedale, donated every other lot to the Southern Pacific Railroad.?The rail line eventually built a station and section house in Kennedale. The local school enrolled 108 students and employed one teacher in the 1896?97 term. By 1904 Kennedale had a population of 216 and a two-teacher school, which registered ninety-one students. {{more}}?In 1926 the community had a population of 312 and ten businesses. The development of the defense industry in Fort Worth beginning in the 1940s provided new jobs for area residents and encouraged growth in the county.?In the late 1940s Kennedale had a population of 325 and eight businesses; by 1955 it had 1,046 residents and twenty businesses. In 1965 it had a population of 1,800, in 1975 it had 2,900 residents and seventy businesses, and in 1990 the population was 4,096. In 1991 Kennedale had eighty-three businesses. The population was listed as 5,850 in 2000. ?This information was taken from Texas State Historical Society.?This weekend on Saturday, July 13, the Kennedale Historical Society (http://kennedalehistoricalsociety.wordpress.com/)?is making a presentation on the history of the area with pictures and stories and serving a good old Texas ranch lunch of red beans, corn bread, sweet tea and cobbler. They hope to recruit new members or at least spread the word about the Historical Society.?The Kennedale Historical Society is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to researching and preserving the history of the City of Kennedale. It has no full-time staff, so members and directors do the day-to-day work of the organization. So of course, those who love history are always welcome.
One of the long term goals of the Society is to establish a Kennedale History Museum. This Museum would house historic artifacts and pictures from days gone by. It would be a place people could visit to learn more about Kennedale’s rich history.?Saturday is going to be a good ol’ fashion hot Texas summer day so spend the afternoon, indoors in the cool, having a good time with history and friends. Festivities start at 1 p.m. at the Dover House, 5th Street and Municipal in Kennedale. ??You can also visit them on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/pages/Kennedale-Historical-Society/260888563988183?
