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Pendleton is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in northern Bell County, six miles northwest of Temple on the Santa Fe Railway and Farm Road 1237.

The community began in the early 1880s as Pendletonville, growing up around the railroad station, and was named for George C. Pendleton, a local merchant and politician who went on to become lieutenant governor of Texas.

By 1914 Pendleton had about 400 residents, a post office, three churches, three cotton gins, a bank, and three general stores, and it shortened its name to Pendleton in 1908.

A slow decline set in during the 1920s, and by 1949 Pendleton was down to about 80 people; community estimates held it at roughly 60 residents through 2000.

Pendleton first appeared as a census-designated place in the 2020 census, which counted 845 residents within the CDP's wider boundaries, and Census survey data show about 379 households.

Pendleton is a notably older community, with a median age of about 61 years in recent Census surveys, far above the Texas median.

Pendleton was the birthplace of blues musician Blind Willie Johnson, one of the most influential gospel-blues singers of the 1920s, and of Green Bay Packers safety Bobby Dillon.

Pendleton has its own post office with ZIP code 76564 and is part of the Killeen-Temple metropolitan area.