Kenney is located on the northern side of Austin County and was founded in 1880 as a station on a new line of the Gulf,
Colorado and Sante Fe Railway between Bellville and Brenham.

The history still fills the air in this small but hopping community. You can sit under the porch at The Kenney Store and watch trains go by or relax all day long at the annual 4th of July Barbecue at the Kenney Agricultural Society like they’ve been doing it for over a century. Nothing new. Why change it.
Kenney was named after John Wesley Kenney (1799-1865), one of great pioneer Methodist ministers of Texas.
Pennsylvania-born, he began preaching at age 19 and in 1833 he came to Texas and soon settled in Austin County.
Unkempt in appearance, Kenney redeemed his eccentricity with an eloquent style of preaching.

In Texas – then part of Mexico and Catholic by law – he helped found Methodist societies and in 1834 served a vast circuit covering all of present state west of Trinity River. In 1836 he took part in Texas War for Independence. His lifetime saw Methodism become one of the major denominations in state.