After the Texas and Pacific Railroad came through the area, H.W. Wood, a druggist, set aside 40 acres on July 19, 1881, for a townsite and named the new village Athol. Within a year, the name became Keller in honor of John C. Keller, a railroad construction crew foreman. Businesses grew to serve the surrounding farms, and in 1886 the Post Office was established. The community had two hotels, three doctors, a newspaper, and a school, and Baptist, Methodist, and Presbyterian congregations erected a Union Church building in 1886. Keller was incorporated in 1958.