Kenedy is a city in Karnes County, Texas, United States, named for Mifflin Kenedy, who bought and wanted to develop a new town that would carry his name. The population was 3,473 at the 2020 census, up from 3,296 at the 2010 census.

History

In the early 1900s many of Kenedy's gunfighter shootings caused the town to be nicknamed "Six Shooter Junction".

During World War II, the Kenedy Alien Detention Camp was located near the outskirts of the town, on a former Civilian Conservation Corps site. Though it later served as a prisoner of war camp, it started as an internment camp for people of German, Italian, and Japanese ancestry deported from Latin America, as well as some who were long-term residents of the U.S. The camp opened in April 1942, when the first group of Latin American deportees arrived: 456 Germans, 156 Japanese and 14 Italians. In 1944, the remaining internees were transferred to other facilities, and by September it had been converted to a German POW camp; beginning in July 1945, the camp was also used to house Japanese POWs.

Geography

Kenedy is located in south-central Karnes County at (28.8143, –97.8496). U.S. Route 181 runs through the west side of the city, leading northwest to Karnes City, the county seat, and to San Antonio. To the south US-181 leads to Beeville and to Corpus Christi. Texas State Highway 72 (Main Street) passes through the center of Kenedy, leading northeast to Yorktown and southwest to Three Rivers.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city of Kenedy has a total area of , of which , or 0.29%, are water.

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2020 census

As of the 2020 census, Kenedy had a population of 3,473. The median age was 39.1 years. 24.4% of residents were under the age of 18 and 17.9% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 99.0 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 94.2 males age 18 and over.

There were 1,352 households in Kenedy, of which 31.5% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 38.3% were married-couple households, 24.0% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 31.1% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 29.5% of all households were made up of individuals and 12.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.

! Race !! Number !! Percent

|-

| White || 1,929 || 55.5%

|-

| Black or African American || 79 || 2.3%

|-

| American Indian and Alaska Native || 28 || 0.8%

|-

| Asian || 59 || 1.7%

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| Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander || 1 || 0.0%

|-

| Some other race || 496 || 14.3%

|-

| Two or more races || 881 || 25.4%

|-

| Hispanic or Latino (of any race) || 2,479 || 71.4%

|}

2000 census

As of the 2000 census

References

  • Official website