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D−History
History · Kendall

Kendall’s post office opened in 1914

More historic than 4% of U.S. towns · #567 of 638 in Florida. What drives it

Most of Kendall was built recently: 0.2% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1978. Below: 5 old photos and papers, maps from 1950 on, and the census since 1970.

1914first post office
0on the National Register
0.2%homes built before 1940
5old photos & papers
2famous people
From Kendall’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Kendall began, and where its name came from

When was Kendall founded?

1914

The Kendall post office opened in 1914, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 35,497 in 19702020 census: 80,241112 years

How did Kendall get its name?

Kendall was named for Henry John Broughton Kendall, a director of the company, who moved to the area in the 1900s to manage the company's land.

How historic is Kendall?

D−

More historic than 4% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Kendall post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Name: Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Kendall’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Kendall is more historic than 4% of U.S. towns, #567 of 638 in Florida. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.

D−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Kendall’s overall grade.
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 4%
NewerOlder
Florida towns of 2,500+ (638)Ahead of 11%

Few Florida towns list much on the Register (a typical Florida town has 0.0 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Kendall’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (33% of Florida towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D− to D. The pre-1940 share (±0.2 points) is firm at this size. The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.

Founding year: the first post office (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →

The story

How Kendall came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Kendall.

Read it all →

Much of what is now Kendall was purchased from the State of Florida in 1883 by the Florida Land and Mortgage Company. It was named for Henry John Broughton Kendall, a director of the company, who moved to the area in the 1900s to manage the company's land. As the land was not open to homesteading, development was slow well into the 20th century. A post office opened in 1914, and the first school opened in 1929. After the end of the land boom in 1926, some residents left. Two Seminole camps were in the Kendall area, and Seminoles continued to live there into the 1940s.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Kendall, 1914 to 1988

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 20th century
  2. 1914Post officeThe Kendall post office opens
  3. 1916In the archiveChildren of Doctor Tommy Jimmy near
  4. 1950On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  5. 1955Post officeThe Kendall post office closes
  6. 1961Born hereHarvey Clayton is born here
  7. 1968In the archiveLeonard Usina
  8. 1988Born hereJD Natasha is born here
By decade

Kendall, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1910s to the 1960s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1920s–1950snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
1970s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
On the map

Kendall on the map, 1950 to 1994

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Kendall. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Kendall on the 1950 USGS mapKendall on the 1969 USGS mapKendall on the 1988 USGS mapKendall on the 1994 USGS map1950South Miami sheet · 1:24,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Kendall.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Children of Doctor Tommy Jimmy near
Retake this viewChildren of Doctor Tommy Jimmy near, 1916

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Kendall’s page.

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Kendall, census by census

020,00040,00060,00080,000198020002020Peak: 87,271

Between 35,497 and 87,271 people in every census since 1970.

6 censuses, 1970–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Kendall’s Wikipedia page.

Famous people

2 famous people were born in Kendall

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Kendall had its own post office from 1914 to 1955.

Kendall
1914–1955
19101970today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Green-Mar AcresHawley HeightsHoward
Gone or out of use
Bougainvillea SchoolschoolCamp FloridaylocaleHaven Schoolschool
1cemetery inside Kendall
Caballero Rivero Woodlawn South

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Help out

Finish Kendall’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
2 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Questions about Kendall’s history

What year was Kendall founded?

The Kendall post office opened in 1914, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Kendall rank for history?

Kendall is more historic than 4% of U.S. towns, #567 of 638 in Florida. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.

How old are the homes in Kendall?

0.2% of Kendall’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 0.6% for a Florida town; the median home was built in 1978.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

From Wikimedia Commons (12), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.