Kemp is a city in Kaufman County, Texas, United States. The population was 1,129 in 2020. The community was named for Sara Kemp, moth…Kemp is a city in Kaufman County, Texas, United States. The population was 1,129 in 2020. The community was named for Sara Kemp, mother of Levi Noble, the first postmaster, and was officially established when the post office opened in 1851. The original townsite was located on present-day County Road 4023, 2 miles south of present-day Texas State Highway 274. It grew slowly during its first thirty years. A Presbyterian congregation was organized in 1854, and the Kemp Academy of Learning began operation in 1867. After the Civil War, an increasing number of settlers moved to the community. In 1870, Dr. A. J. Still, hoping to profit from this growth and the possible construction of a railroad through the area, bought land just north of the community and after surveying, dividing the tract into lots, and platting it, persuaded the directors of the Southern Pacific Railroad to lay tracks across his property by offering the company a number of lots. Another early settler, Sam Parmalee, followed suit and offered the rail company right-of-way through his property. The mid-1880s witnessed the completion of the rail line through the community, the construction of a depot there, and the designation of Kemp as a terminus on the line.
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