Kenney Fort first Round Rock settlement
Kenney Fort first Round Rock settlement
Written by Jim Dawson Tuesday, 07 February 2006
The first permanent Round Rock settlement was built during the spring of 1838. Dr. Thomas Kenney, his wife Mary Jane and their daughters and others built Kenney Fort on the banks of Brushy Creek (today about one-half mile from Hwy 79 across from Palm Valley Lutheran Church).
The fort consisted of four log cabins with port holes on the exposed sides and was enclosed with a stockade of logs about eight feet high with strong gates. The inside grounds covered half an acre and housed as many as 15 people.
At that time Round Rock was wild and dangerous, and Kenney Fort provided a safe haven for settlers moving into the area. Alligators filled the creeks and streams, buffalo were plentiful, as were bears and wild mustangs.
Attacks by Indians defending their native lands were a constant threat. In April 1844 Dr. Kenney and two other men left the fort but never returned. Their bodies were found a few days later and their deaths were attributed to local Indians.
Kenney Fort was also the site of two important historical Texas events.
In July 1841, Texas President Mirabeau Lamar convened 300 soldiers and volunteers near Kenney Fort for an expedition to Santa Fe to establish a trade route passing through Texas. In Santa Fe, the men were arrested and marched to Mexico City. Some died along the way, while the rest were imprisoned for a short time.
In 1842, the capital of the Republic of Texas was moved to Austin. When Sam Houston became President, he wanted the capital offices returned to Houston. Unable to convince government officials to relinquish the state archives, Houston ordered two trusted men to seize the documents and proceed to Washington-on-the-Brazos.
On December 30, 1842, after loading the archives on a wagon, they stopped for the night at Kenney Fort. Not wanting to lose the state capital, 20 or more Austinites followed them dragging a cannon. The next morning, the Austinites convinced the two men to surrender the archives without a fight.
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