| History: | Ephraim Keisler, brother of J. T. Keisler, built a sawmill at Richards about 1910. The mill was north about a mile from Richards, located on the railroad tracks. The company loading docks became known as Keisler's Spur when the railroad built a line to the docks. In 1916, known as the Tri County Lumber Company, the firm, through J. T. Keisler, sold $2,500 of lumber located at Keisler Spur on the Trinity & Brazos Valley to S. F. Carter and J. L. Tyron.
After several years, a Mr. Daniels bought the mill and enlarged operations, including the laying of a tram line to Sandy and north of present-day Highway 30. Daniels used steam locomotives to pull the timber to the mill. The tram road was the only connection to Richards, and all members of the community, which included about fifteen tenant homes and a commissary, rode the railway to Richards.
The “Mr. Daniels” referred to as buying the mill may be William Fleming Daniel of Cushing, Texas. See endorsement of Angelina County Lumber Company as to Mr. Daniel's character, provided to him for a timber buying trip to Grimes County sometime in the 1910s. |