KENEFICK, TEXAS. Kenefick is at the junction of Farm roads 1008 and 2797, forty-one miles northeast of Houston in central Liberty County. The area was settled before 1830 by Reason Green and his slaves. The Beaumont, Sour Lake and Western Railway was built through the area by the Kenefick Construction Company after 1904. The community that grew up along the railroad in the Green survey was named for the owner of the construction firm. Several sawmills and a commissary were located at Kenefick during the height of the East Texas lumbering era. Cattle and agriculture remained important, and the establishment of the Kenefick voting precinct in 1956 reflected the community's growth. In 1968 residents voted to incorporate their town by a 42-0 margin. The population, estimated at 150 in 1973, had reached 763 by 1980. In 1990 it was 435, and in 2000 the population was 667.

BIBLIOGRAPHY: Miriam Partlow, Liberty, Liberty County, and the Atascosito District (Austin: Pemberton, 1974).

Robert Wooster