Kemp

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about Kemp, Kaufman County; so hold on, because this one's got some layers to it. Now, every town's got a beginning, and Kemp's goes back to 1851, when the U.S. Postal Service approved a station by that name with a man named Levi Noble stepping in as the very first postmaster.

That's your seed. Before the Civil War, Kemp was doing what a lot of Texas communities did: feeding the farms, serving the families, keeping the wheels of agricultural life turning. But somebody was tending to more than just crops.

An itinerant Presbyterian preacher by the name of R.O. Watkins settled near Kemp around 1855. Now, an itinerant preacher means a man who travels, but Watkins, he apparently decided this place was worth staying put.

And in 1867, he went and did something about education, founding the Kemp Academy to give the schoolchildren of that area a serious, sturdy place to learn. That's not nothing. That's a man planting roots deeper than sermons.

Still, towns need more than good soil and good schooling. They need connection. And that connection came roaring in on iron rails in the 1880s, when the Texas Trunk Railroad came building through the region.

The Texas Trunk was built to link Dallas with points east and south, and it would eventually become part of the Texas and New Orleans Rail Line. When those tracks reached Kaufman (that's ten miles to the north) in 1881, the county surveyor was already out there laying a town plat for Kemp along the projected rail line. Now here's where it gets good.

By 1882, the railroad hadn't even reached Kemp yet. The tracks were still coming. And yet this community (this town that was still waiting on its railroad) already had two dry goods stores, a drugstore, a grocery, a saloon, a saddle shop, a barbershop, a blacksmith, three separate church congregations, and a steam gin and mill.

Three churches and a saloon. Kemp was covering its bases. The growth kept on.

Kemp served as a trade center for the farms and ranches spread out across the surrounding land. As for its formal status, the actual date of incorporation hasn't been pinned down, but what is known is that the citizens voted to abolish their incorporation in 1910, and then thought better of it, electing to reincorporate in 1922. Some towns can't make up their mind.

Kemp just kept moving. The end of World War II brought what it brought to a lot of places: a pull toward the cities, a thinning out of the small towns. Kemp felt that shift.

But it held on, and the marker is clear: Kemp remains an important community in the history of Kaufman County. Started with a post office and one postmaster. Ended up with three churches before the railroad even showed up.

That's Kemp, Texas, and it was never in a hurry to be anything less than itself.

What the marker says

Kemp This community can trace its origins to 1851, when the U.S. Postal Service approved a station named Kemp with Levi Noble as first postmaster. In the years prior to the Civil War, Kemp was primarily an agricultural community, providing goods and services for the surrounding farm families. Itinerant Presbyterian preacher R.O. Watkins settled near Kemp about 1855 and in 1867 began the Kemp Academy to provide a strong educational center for the schoolchildren in the area. It was the construction of the Texas Trunk Railroad in the 1880s, however, that boosted Kemp's growth and development. The Texas Trunk was built to connect Dallas with points east and south and later became part of the Texas and New Orleans Rail Line. As the tracks reached Kaufman (10 mi. N) in 1881, the county surveyor was laying out a town plat for Kemp along the projected rail line. By 1882, one year before the railroad even reached Kemp, the community boasted two dry goods stores, a drugstore, grocery, saloon, saddle shop, barbershop, blacksmith, three church congregations and a steam gin and mill. Although the actual date of Kemp's incorporation has not been determined, it is known that the citizens voted to abolish their incorporation in 1910 and then elected to reincorporate in 1922. Kemp continued to grow, serving as a trade center for the surrounding farms and ranches. Although the end of World War II signaled a shift in the population to more urban areas, Kemp remains an important community in the history of Kaufman County. (2002)