Michael Gouldrich, one of Stephen F. Austin's original three hundred colonists, received a Mexican land grant here in 1824. Elizabeth S. Justice acquired a part of the property in 1853. By the early 1890s Abraham and Elizabeth (Justice) Kipp, their daughter Jane, and her husband, James Bradford, had acquired the balance of the original Gouldrich Mexican land grant.
In 1898 the Texas & New Orleans Railroad extended a track through the area which prompted the Kipp and Bradford families to establish a townsite here named Evergreen. Despite its destruction by a storm in 1900, the village was rebuilt after the Kipps and Bradfords erected large family homes here in 1901.
The name of the town was changed to Kemah with the granting of a post office in 1907. Gulf-related businesses such as boat building, commercial fishing, and tourism helped Kemah grow into a town of 1,300 people by 1922. Kemah was connected with Seabrook by bridge in 1929. A large shrimp fleet located here after the Clear Creek Channel opened in the 1950s.
Kemah sustained major storm damage in 1961 but recovered and was formally incorporated in 1965. Marine storage facilities built in this area in the 1970s and 1980s continued to boost the local economy.
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