The Keisler Lumber Company at Richards began about 1930, when the sons of J. T. Keisler, George and Lester, built a sawmill on the location of their father's cotton gin. The Lumbermen's Credit Rating Book, October 1934 listed the mill in its edition. The operation was later noted by Nelson Samson in 1957 and 1966. The Directory of Texas Manufacturers 1956-1958 noted that in 1957 George H. Keisler was managing less than ten employees in the manufacture of rough and dressed pine lumber.
Located in Richards, centered between the streets of Brazos, Pine, Trinity, and Mulberry, the mill operated until it was closed about 1980 because it could not comply with federal EPA regulations.