The site where Kendleton now stands was originally a Mexican land grant to settler Elizabeth Powell, whose house served as an early stage stop. During the Texas Revolution in 1836, Santa Anna's Mexican Army camped nearby. 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 freed Negroes starting their own farms, and the rural village was named in his honor when the railroad came through in 1884.