Kelsey, Texas
A Texas State Historical Survey Committee marker stands in front of a now-abandoned store to give a brief history of one of the oldest surviving LDS colonies in the southern United States -- Kelsey. The town, located about five miles west of Gilmer, Texas, was founded in 1899 by brothers Jim and John Edgar, who were passing through Upshur County, Texas, on a trip from Arizona to Alabama. After Church leaders gave their approval for a Mormon colony in the red-clay hills of Kelsey, the Edgar brothers advertised in various publications for colonists to settle there.The colony reached its peak in 1913 when the population grew to 600. Today, the business climate of Kelsey has declined but there are still residents, the majority of whom are LDS.