Our History

Charles Kelty purchased an existing sawmill in 1866 which supplied local demand for building material but was not particularly profitable. In 1888, Joseph H. Kurth joined with business partners Simon W. Henderson and Sam and Eli Weiner to buy the mill, which be 1891 was renamed Angelina County Lumber Company and became one of the most successful operations in the region. The sawmill town of Keltys included company housing, a commissary, schools and churches, along with a post office.

 In 1890, the Sunday School class established by Hattie Kurth, located in the Keltys school across the railroad tracks and north of the Kurth home, became the Lufkin Mission Methodist Episcopal Church, South. Reverend V.A. Godbey arrived in December 1890 as the first minister.

 In 1902, Joseph and Hattie Kurth conveyed 1½ acres of land to church trustees for their own building. The Kurths also donated materials and paid for construction of a parsonage. The church was known for a time as Kurth’s Chapel Methodist Episcopal Church. Fire destroyed the sanctuary in 1940, and the Angelina County Lumber Company financed a new church building which is still in use.

 Through the years, the ministry of the church has grown to reach out to the community and beyond. In 1923, a women’s missionary society (later United Methodist Women) organized. The congregation continues to be  especially involved in youth programs at the church and through local schools. 

 The sawmill closed in 1965 and many buildings were later razed. From what was once a large-scale industrial operation, Keltys United Methodist Church remains as an ongoing link to the community’s heritage and continues to worship in membership with descendants of Simon W. Henderson, generations later.