Kennard

Kennard was founded in 1903 by the Louisiana and Texas Lumber Company and platted on 160 acres, with land agent Alexander McTavish also serving as its first postmaster. The town became a terminus for the Eastern Texas Railroad, established to transport timber to Angelina County, and many businesses and residents from earlier nearby settlements moved there when the rail line arrived. Schools had served the area as early as 1864 until Kennard School opened in 1903, while religious observances began with tent meetings led by traveling ministers before permanent churches were organized. Early establishments included a bank, hotel, drug store, general merchandise stores, cafe, meat shop, and Woodmen of the World lodge. During the 1920s and 1930s, timber and farming expanded and additional businesses came to town, including a cottonseed mill, cotton gins, syrup mills, a blacksmith shop, gas stations, and a boardinghouse. In 1933 State Highway 7 was built through Main Street, shifting the business center there, and after incorporation as a city in 1969, Kennard continued as an active community in the heart of the Davy Crockett National Forest.

Kennard, Texas · United States