Kempner, TX

Kempner is a Lampasas County city at the junction of U.S. 190 and Ranch Road 2313, with the Lampasas River close by. The 2020 census counted 1,146 residents. Before the present name settled in, the community passed through Pickett Valley, Brummersville, Taylor's Creek, and Slaughtersville. The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway arrived in 1882, two miles from the Taylor store, and the post office took the name Kempner after Harris Kempner, a railroad director.

The tracks brought the usual small-town cluster: steam gristmills, cotton gins, a church, a school, a telegraph office, and eventually a hotel and bank. Kempner incorporated on August 9, 1997, after residents worried that Copperas Cove might annex the area. Today City Hall houses the council, court, police, and other offices, with meetings held twice a month. Lampasas Independent School District serves local students, while the Killeen-Temple-Fort Hood region supplies the larger economic frame. Kempner is a railroad town that kept its municipal name and its place along the Lampasas County road network.