Richard Wilson Keeling was a private researcher and author who dedicated much of his life to documenting the history of the East Texas sawmill and railroad industries.

Much of what is known of the transportation equipment used in the forests of East Texas and Louisiana comes from his tireless research.  Keeling sought out surviving  employees, at all levels of labor and management, and meticulously made notes and copied or collected historic photographs and primary documents.   Thus, much of the material credited to him remains unpublished, and in many cases, previously unknown. 

Keeling also traded extensively with fellow railroad photographers and collectors of the time, and many of those images are incorporated into the general photograph collection.

According to his son Jim, who often accompanied him on his many field trips along the back roads of East Texas, his personal wish was to put together a general history of the East Texas logging railroads and supporting sawmills.  Keeling had a particular interest in the history of the vast Kirby Lumber Company empire, and mentioned many times in his correspondence that he hoped to write a book on the Kirby companies.

For years, and especially in the 1960's, Keeling made good progress toward his book projects.   Sadly, however, he passed away in 1969 before he could complete his life's work, but not before he had collected a truly special body of knowledge and images that shine much light on all aspects of mill and railroad life in East Texas during the great lumbering era.

We are still digesting the material in the Keeling collection, but we estimate there to be approximately 5,000 photographic images in print and negative form, and approximately 800 pages of notes, articles and correspondence.  Material will continue to be moved online as it is processed.

The East Texas history community is very grateful for Mr. Keeling's contributions to the greater body of knowledge of East Texas life, and we at the TTA personally draw inspiration from his standards of accuracy and his work ethic toward meeting his goals.

We are especially grateful to Jim Keeling and the Keeling family for their generous loan of this collection.  Their generosity has made it possible that all of us can enjoy the fruits of Richard Keeling's long and excellent labor.