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DHistory
History · Keller

Keller dates to 1881

More historic than 14% of U.S. towns · #407 of 642 in Texas. What drives it

Most of Keller was built recently: 0.2% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1999. Below: maps from 1955 on and the census since 1960.

1881founded
0on the National Register
0.2%homes built before 1940
8famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Traveller2020 at English Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 3.0
Quick answers

How Keller began

When was Keller founded?

1881

Keller dates its founding to 1881 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1960.

First census: 827 in 19602020 census: 45,776145 years

How historic is Keller?

D

More historic than 14% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1888.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Keller’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Keller is more historic than 14% of U.S. towns, #407 of 642 in Texas. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.

D
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Keller’s overall grade.
Founding era1881, from Wikidata: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 19400.2% of homes (±0.2) · typical TX town 1.6% · U.S. 8.4%DNational RegisterNo listings counted · typical TX town 0.0 per 10,000 · U.S. 2.4C
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 14%
NewerOlder
Texas towns of 2,500+ (642)Ahead of 37%

Few Texas towns list much on the Register (a typical Texas town has 0.0 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Keller’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (34% of Texas towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D to C. The pre-1940 share (±0.2 points) is firm at this size. Two sources give 1881.

Founding year: Wikidata (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →

What stands out about Keller’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Keller are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Famous sons and daughtersRJ Nembhard, Ángela Barón and 6 more were born here.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Keller’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Keller’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Famous people

8 famous people were born in Keller

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
RJ NembhardAmerican basketball player · b. 1999
Ángela BarónColombian-American soccer player · b. 2003
Garrett HartleyPlayer of American football · b. 1986
Edward Everett DaleAmerican historian · b. 1879
B
Bryce BoneauAmerican soccer player · b. 2003
D
Del Ballard, Jr.American ten-pin bowler · b. 1963
The story

How Keller came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Keller.

Read it all →

Keller is in the western fringe of the Eastern Cross Timbers in northeast Tarrant County, part of the frontier of the Peters Colony settlers of the 1840s. In the mid-1840s, the area was first settled by a group of families from Missouri who homesteaded near the headwaters of Big Bear Creek. Mount Gilead Baptist Church was established on July 13, 1850. In 1859, the little log church was burned in an Indian raid. It served as the only schoolhouse in that part of the county until about 1910.

ChaptersBefore establishmentEstablishment of KellerModern Keller

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Keller, 1879 to 2003

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1879Born hereEdward Everett Dale is born here
  3. 1881
    FoundingKeller is established
  4. 1888Post officeThe Keller post office opens
  5. 20th century
  6. 1955On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  7. 1986Born hereGarrett Hartley is born here
  8. 1999Born hereRJ Nembhard is born here
  9. 21st century
  10. 2003Born hereÁngela Barón is born here
By decade

Keller, decade by decade

Today12 recent
Keller TX Public Library 07-13-152015Keller TX Public Library 07-13-15Keller TX Mt Gilead Baptist Church Historical Marker 2015-07-112015Keller TX Mt Gilead Baptist Church Historical Marker …Keller TX Fire Trucks2015Keller TX Fire TrucksKeller TX City Hall lake side 2015-03-152015Keller TX City Hall lake side 2015-03-15Keller High School 2015-07-132015Keller High School 2015-07-13Keller City Hall interior 2015-02-022015Keller City Hall interior 2015-02-02Keller City Hall flags2015Keller City Hall flagsA Keller Water Tower2015A Keller Water TowerKeller Tower2009Keller TowerKeller Central High School 20072007Keller Central High School 2007KellerTownHall2006KellerTownHallUS Navy 050401-N-8110K-022 Keller High School students watch a video presentation on the U.S. Navy Flight Demonstration…2005US Navy 050401-N-8110K-022 Keller High School student…
On the map

Keller on the map, 1955 to 1981

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Keller. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Keller on the 1955 USGS mapKeller on the 1968 USGS mapKeller on the 1972 USGS mapKeller on the 1981 USGS map1955Keller sheet · 1:24,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Keller.

People over time

Keller, census by census

05,00010,00015,00020,00025,00030,00035,00040,00045,00050,000196019802000202045,776

Grew from 827 people in 1960 to 45,776 in 2020, more than tenfold.

7 censuses, 1960–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Keller’s Wikipedia page.

Places that used to be

Places now gone and burying grounds

Keller’s post office has been open since 1888.

Gone or out of use
Craig Airportairport
1cemetery inside Keller
Bourland

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

SouthlakeIts storyD−WestlakeIts storyDNorth Richland HillsIts storyD−Fort Worth103 historic placesA−WataugaIts storyDColleyvilleIts storyD−

Questions about Keller’s history

What year was Keller founded?

In 1881, according to Wikidata. Keller’s post office opened in 1888, and the census of 1960 counted 827 people here.

How does Keller rank for history?

Keller is more historic than 14% of U.S. towns, #407 of 642 in Texas. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.

How old are the homes in Keller?

0.2% of Keller’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 1.6% for a Texas town; the median home was built in 1999.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

From Wikimedia Commons (12), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.