The village of Kendall is on the NSW Mid North Coast, about 2kms west of Kew and the Pacific Highway and half way between Taree and Port Macquarie. It's one of seven villages that make up the Camden Haven region of the Port Macquarie/Hastings Local Government Area.
The Kendall District includes Kew, Heron's Creek, Logan's Crossing, Lorne and Ross Glen.
Other villages in the vicinity are Bonny Hills, Comboyne, Dunbogan, Lake Cathie, Laurieton and North Haven; the bigger towns are Port Macquarie, Taree and Wauchope.
The Birpai Nation Long before Europeans arrived in what is now Kendall and district, it was the home of the Birpai people who lived in settled villages along the river banks and around the lakes. The entire northern coast of New South Wales supported a substantial number of Aboriginal Australians. The rich strip from the Camden Haven to the Queensland border and from the coast west to the Great Dividing Range – 30,000 square kilometres – might well have nourished 45,000 people. More...
Timber Cutting and Milling By 1856, cedar was being exported on ships that called into the Camden Haven. The first organised timber cutting and milling is said to have been that of Mr Perrett who built a mill near present day Kendall in the 1860s. From 1883, Crown Land in the Port Macquarie district was 'set aside from sale for preservation and growth of timber'. Reserve No. 15038 on North Brother Mountain was notified on 9 January 1989. More... Cattle and Dairying The teams of bullocks that worked throughout the district were of mixed breed: Devons, Ayrshires, Jerseys with the odd black and white Friesian. The very intelligent Jerseys were often leaders of the team, they frequently also brought up the tail. From the 1880s, as settlement in the area increased, many people took up dairying. More...
Henry Kendall Kendall was named in honour of the poet, Henry Kendall (1839 – 1882). Kendall came to Camden Haven, as the village of Kendall was then called, in 1876 to work for his friend, Michael Fagan, whose timber mill stood on the site of today’s Kendall Services & Citizens Club. He lived and worked in Kendall from 1875 until 1881. More..
Kendall School of Arts The Kendall School of Arts, a much loved building, has been the focus of many district activities for over a century. Having its centenary in 2010. It is well built of local timber, indicative of the timber industry which was the major local industry for approximately one hundred years.
The site of today’s Kendall Community Centre was initially notified as Camping Reserve No 132 on 1 August 1881. The Camping Reserve was used to rest horses and bullock teams after they drew logs from the forests to the Kendall timber mills. More...
Railway The opening of the railway in Kendall on 12 April 1915 contributed greatly to Kendall’s commercial and social activity.
The first government-owned railway in New South Wales opened on 26 September 1855 with lines to the Hunter and the west of the state following very soon after. The treacherous bars of the swollen coastal rivers caused so much loss of life and property that it is not surprising that railway surveys began on the north coast as early as 1872. More...
Population According to the 2016 census, the population of the Kendall was 1,141, of these 48.4% were male and 50.4% was female, 19.3% was over 65 years and 21.1% was under 15 years. The median age of people in Kendall was 44 years.
Points of Interest
There are also a number of special places in the surrounding country.
Henry Kendall Statue 125 years after his death, a granite statue depicting Henry Kendall has been installed at the corner of Comboyne and Orara Streets. It commemorates him as a resident of Kendall from 1875 - 1882 (then called Camden Haven) and as the first NSW Inspector of Forests.
Kendall School of Arts Built in 1908 by the citizens of Kendall on Crown Land dedicated for the purpose. Restored during the 1980s.
Fred Norrie Riverside Reserve A delightful park and picnic area beside the Camden Haven River.
Kendall Pool The pool was opened in 2004 following years of fund-raising by the Kendall community.
War Memorial The War memorial records the names of soldiers who went from the district to fight in World War I.
Machinery Display Boiler from a locomotive used on the Longworth Logging Tramway from 1916 to 1929, and fly wheel from a diesel engine used at a timber mill at Bob’s Creek around the end of World War II.
Kendall Cemetery The heritage cemetery has graves dating back to the beginning of the 20th century.
Uniting Church The Uniting Church was built in 1915 by Albert George Smith with bricks hand made on his Batar Creek property.
Leaves of Kendall At the entrance to Kendall is a sculpture designed and constructed by Kendall resident Girikami Weissmann.
Catholic Church The first Church of St John the Evangelist was built of local timber in 1890 and replaced by the current brick church in 1918.
Showground The Kendall Showground hosts the annual Camden Haven Show every March as well as regular pony club meets and markets.
