Biohazard Cleanup Near West Hendrix Hendrix, OK

Hendrix is a tiny town in southern Bryan County, less than a mile north of the Red River and the Texas line.

Hendrix began as Kemp City, a station created after the Missouri, Oklahoma and Gulf Railway bypassed the nearby town of Kemp in 1908 while building its line south to Texas.

In 1910 Hendrix residents petitioned the Oklahoma Corporation Commission to force the railroad to build a side track and stop at Kemp City, and the Oklahoma Supreme Court upheld their demand in 1911.

The town takes its name from James A. Hendrix, its first postmaster and the owner of an early general store.

For the first half of the twentieth century the town carried two names — Hendrix for the post office and Kemp City locally — until Bryan County commissioners officially renamed it Hendrix in 1967 after residents petitioned for the change.

A tornado in 1916 destroyed most of Hendrix, including its bank, and killed many residents.

Hendrix's population peaked at 152 in the 1950 census and has declined steadily since; the railroad abandoned its tracks through town in 1965.

The 2020 census counted 61 people in Hendrix, living in 32 households on just 0.12 square miles of land.

Hendrix's 2020 population was notably diverse for such a small Oklahoma town — about 70 percent White, 15 percent Black, and 5 percent Native American.