Kenney Was Thompson Before It Was Kenney

The Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe founded a station between Bellville and Brenham in 1880. Its post office first used Thompson, the name of early resident and first postmaster J. E. Thompson. The community later became Kenney, honoring pioneer Methodist evangelist John Wesley Kenney.

By 1885, the stop had a steam-powered gristmill and cotton gin, three churches, a district school, several businesses, and 150 people. The work came before the size: milling grain, shipping cotton, teaching children, and gathering congregations did not require a large town.

An 1895 General Land Office sketch shows Kenney on the railroad north of Bellville. The tracks made the stop, but the mill, gin, churches, and school made the community.