20 - Year Growth Plan - City of Kendleton

7.0Economicc DevelopmentEconomic development can be defined as a community’s ability to generate,retain, andreinvest money to maintain or improve quality of life. As a small rural community,Kendleton’s long-tereconomic development.Local residents have expressed many concerns for betterhealth, both financially and physically, is largely influenced bynew shopping and employment opportunitiesin the area.There is also a direct relationshipbetween economic development actions and the Vision and Goals discussed in Section 2.7.1Economic Historical ProfileFigure 7-1: Henry G andAnnie B. Housee 1Figure7-2: Little Zion Missionary Bapttist Church 2 41It is important tounderstandd how Kendleton’s economic history was shapedas afarming community and howeconomic factors contributed to itsstagnant growth. TheCity in its currentform was shaped largely by the construction of US 59 in the 1960s.According to the National Register Report regarding the Henry G. Green House 1 ,Kendleton was a remote agricultural hamlet of housing with limited commercial uses andseveral churches that directlyserved thelocal population (Figures 7-1 and 7-2).Although the railroad was built through Kendleton inthe 1880’s,the City didd not have adepot. Any limited regional commercial traffic in Kendleton was dependent on oldHighway 59, nowdesignatedd Loop 541. Apart fromthe smallerlots near FM2919 andOld Highway 59, most of thelots within the hamlet were small farms on 25-60 acre lotslocated along OldHighway 59.Whenconstructed, the new US 59 did not cause significant land development to occurwithinor near Kendleton. Anat-grade interchange at FM 2919 less than ½ mile southof thetraditional town centeron FM 2919 did not disrupt existing limited regionalcommercial traffic activity entering and leaving Kendleton. Historically, farmingdominated the local economy; however, the city did have a mill and a handful of smalllocal retail stores. However, the new US 59 bisected Kendleton along a high-speed east-west access and disrupted the few local commercial uses directlyserving thecommunity. Many of the older 25-60 lots along thesouth side of Old Highway 59 wereesubdivided or taken through eminent domain with the US 59 construction and were leftunpractical for agricultural uses. The older commercial center of Kendleton may havefurther deteriorated as US 59allowed easy access toregional commercial centerselsewhere in FortBend County.20-Year Growth Plan4