Kenney Fort memorial ribbon-cutting June 6

Round Rock Preservation has commissioned a historical marker about Kenney Fort, the first pioneer settlement in what later became Williamson County. The marker will be installed near the former site of the fort in what is now the Concord at Brushy Creek neighborhood. Join us for a ribbon-cutting celebration to unveil the new marker on June 6 at 6 p.m. at 2351 Centennial Loop. All are invited.

There is an existing marker for Kenney Fort on Palm Valley Blvd. that was erected in 1936 for the Texas Centennial. By that time the fort was gone and the site had been converted to farmland. Palm Valley Blvd. was the closest public road to the fort site, ½ mile away.  The older marker will remain where it is, however the new marker is much closer to the site of the fort and contains more information about it.

Kenney Fort was built in 1839 by Dr. Thomas Kenney and Joseph Barnhart, and was used as a shelter and refuge by the first settlers claiming headrights in the area. The fort was the site of two significant events in the history of the Republic of Texas. It was the starting point for the 1841 Santa Fe Expedition, undertaken in an attempt to convince the leaders of Santa Fe to secede from Mexico and join Texas, which ended in dismal failure. In 1842 as part of an attempt to move the Capitol from Austin to Houston the land records were smuggled out of Austin, pursued by angry residents armed with a cannon. The thieves got as far as Kenney Fort, where their surrender was negotiated and the land record archives returned to Austin. For more information refer to the Planning and Development Services Department’s pages on Kenney Fort, the Santa Fe Expedition, and the Archives War.

The post Kenney Fort memorial ribbon-cutting June 6 appeared first on City of Round Rock.

Source: City of Round Rock