Page "Kemp, Texas" Paragraph 9

The railroad attracted settlers to Kemp.

Prospering with the surrounding cattle ranches and cotton farms, the community developed as a trade center for the lower part of the county.

By the early twentieth century the population had reached 513, and the Methodist and Baptist congregations had established churches.

Kemp also supported a local newspaper, the Kemp News.

The paper was owned and edited by Mike S. Boggess.

In 1926 the town had a population of 1, 200, sixty businesses, and two banks.

By 1936 forty-six businesses operated in Kemp.

The population declined from 1, 000 to 816 between the end of World War IIqv and the mid-1960s.

Businesses declined from forty-one to thirty-three.

In 1965 Cedar Creek Reservoir was completed just south of the community.

Kemp had a population of 1, 184 and seventy-five businesses in 1990.

Much of the land around town was still devoted to cattle production, and many residents commuted to jobs in the Dallas area.

In 2000 the population was 1, 133.