KENNA
|
KENNA |
|
|
|
|
NAME: Kenna COUNTY: Roosevelt ROADS: 2WD GRID: 4 CLIMATE: Sometimes snow in the winter. Always hot in the summer. BEST TIME TO VISIT: Anytime is the best time. |
COMMENTS:
Sort of on the edge of the Llano Estacado, where the buffalo roamed and the antelope still play. Truely the setting for the song "home on the range" and the home of the guy who can sing it. Wayne Crume. Song writer and poet. Aproduct of Kenna.Go west from Roswell 100 miles. You will pass "Acme", "Frazier School House", "Elkins School House", "Boaz" (all ghost towns) on the way. When you get to the "Pioneer Club" you are almost to Kenna so start slowing down. Kenna is nestled in a little valley. The first view will not impress you very much unless you lived there at one time. Then it will impress you a lot and make you real sad for just a little while. Just close your eyes and maybe you will hear some children laughing, hymns coming from the three church houses that used to be there, cow bells donging, because most of the families had a milk cow, and across the tracks was Ed Dentons feed yard full of cattle being fedfor slaughter. If you whiffed the air back then you could tell you were in cow country. REMAINS: Quite a bit. Store. Drug store. Service station. Depot. Stock yards. A few houses. |
|
Kenna was begun shortly after the Civil War. Principally a cattle shipping point and rail road town on the Atichison topeka and Santa Fe Railway. In its hey day it could boast some 2000 live souls.The little town survived the depression days of 1928-1941 until World War II started and it lost all its young men to the services. One by one the families moved away, never to return except once every two years for a one day "Kenna day".THIS BIOGRAPHY IS UNDER CONSTRUCTION FOR SEVERAL MONTHS. YOU MAY CONTACT THE WRITER UNTIL THE BOOK IS SUBMITTED FOR MORE INFORMATION. sammcwhorter1@juno.com. Submitted by: Samuel W McWhorter . Established 1884. On US Highway 70, approximately 35 miles southwest of Portales, the community of Urton originated, probably named for two brothers who came to the region from Missouri in 1884. A contractor named Kenna camped in Urton during the construction of a roadbed for the Atchinson, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad. Kenna's camp served as a stopping place for stagecoaches to exchange mail and passengers. When the railroad was completed in 1899, the name Kenna remained for the camp. Established first as Urton in 1902 by the opening of a post office, the name was changed back to Kenna in 1906. The Vice-president of the railroad was named E. D. Kenna, a fact which may have contributed to the final choice of a name. For a time the townsite was known as the Kenna Development Company. Still standing proud are Ed Dentons store. John Dentons Drug store and station, Ed Dentons feed yards, Papa Goods residence, Stanley Goods residence, Will McCombs (Now Sweetie Gainers)residence, Joe Wilcox original ranch home, John Dentons residence the depot building which was converted to a home by Irene Denton, and the Community Church built by Papa Good, and the old school building is all thats left in what used to be Urton. Outside of town about two miles, off the north of the highway you will see the ranch/home of Lucille Cooper. Good ranch. Nice people. By 1909, Kenna was one of the largest cattle shipping points in the state. During the peak of its development the bustling town boasted of a bank, tow hotels, several general merchandise stores, a post office, and several saloons. Around 1912 many homesteaders relinquished their claims due to the drouth, and Kenna repidly decreased both in size and importance. Submitted by: Samuel W McWhorter
|
|
|
|
