Kendleton

Kendleton is at the intersection of U.S. Highway 59 and Farm Road 2919, fourteen miles southwest of Rosenberg in western Fort Bend County. It was once the site of a plantation belonging to William E. Kendall. In the 1860s Kendall divided the plantation into small farms, which he sold to former slaves. The community that resulted became known as Kendleton. In 1882 the New York, Texas and Mexican Railway Company laid track between Rosenberg and Victoria, passing through Kendleton. A post office was established in 1884 with Benjamin F. Williams as postmaster. In 1890 Kendleton had a general store and twenty-five residents; by 1896 it had grown to include three general stores and a Methodist and a Baptist church, which served some 2,000 people in the surrounding rural area. The census of 1900 reported 116 residents in the town itself. The Kendleton schools also served a wider population than Kendleton proper. In 1903 the community had two schools for twelve white students and three schools for 202 black students. The population of Kendleton fell to thirty-six in 1933 but rose again to 100 by the late 1940s. It fluctuated between 150 and 200 in the 1960s and early 1970s but, after voters chose to incorporate Kendleton in 1973, rose to more than 600. In 1990 Kendleton reported 496 residents. Locals estimated that there were around 2,200 people in the town and the surrounding area, however the 2000 census still reported a population of 466.