Mills County

History

The Clovis are the earliest known people to inhabit the territory before Mills County, though recent discoveries indicate that people were living in the area as far back as 15,000 to 20,000 years. More recently, the Tonkawa occupied it, and numerous vestiges from their campsites remain across the county, including cooking middens. Thought to be the first White man to explore the area, Pedro Vial, visited in 1786 and 1789 while traveling between San Antonio and Santa Fe. Captain Henry S. Brown, believed to be the first white visitor, led a group to the area in 1825 to recover stolen stock. Between 1835 and 1850, the eastern part of what was to become Mills County was once encompassed by the Mexican municipality Milam (originally Viesca Municipality); the western part of the county was once a part of Bexar County between 1839 and 1848, then within Travis County between 1848 and 1852.

The Comanche regularly hunted in what became Mills County, since it was located along the southeastern edge of a large buffalo range. Native tribes moved through the area via what locals called the Comanche Trail, which led to South Texas. Starting in the 1840s, aggressive groups of Comanche and Apache pushed the Tonkawa out and raided the area in an effort to keep control of it as late as 1850, frequently stealing horses and scalping settlers who had started to move there in significant numbers after 1855. The earliest settlers arrived when the area had no fences and land was free.

Eventually, the Apache moved west, leaving the Comanche in control. Earlier, in 1835, the general council of Texas sent the first Texas Rangers to aid settlers. In 1854, the Texas Legislature appropriated land located on the Texas frontier, built a series of reservations, and moved the natives there starting in 1855, yet native incursions into White settlements continued. By the mid-1870s, native violence began to diminish, yet leading up to the 1880s, Comanche and Kiowa continued to attack the area. Comanches raided Williams Ranch in the late 1870s, the last recorded assault in the area.

The earliest communities in were Center City and Hanna Valley, both organized in 1854. One source identifies the David Morris Sr., and Dick Jenkins families as the first pioneers in the area, who settled south of present-day Center City in 1852. Killed by the natives, Dick Jenkins is thought to be the first person buried in what was to become Mills County.

Geography and Natural Features

Located in west-central Texas near the center of the state, Mills County incorporates portions of the Limestone Cut Plain and Western Cross Timber subregions of the Cross Plains ecoregion. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 750 square miles (1,900 km2), of which 1.5 sq mi (3.9 km2) (0.2%) are covered by water. Elevation varies from 1,200 to 1,750 ft above meal sea level.

The Brazos and Colorado river basins bifurcate the county. Major surface water features include the Colorado River, the Colorado-Brazos basin divide, the Pecan Bayou-Colorado confluence, Lake Merritt, and the headwaters of the Cowhouse Creek, Lampasas River, Bennet Creek, and Simms Creek. The county's major aquifer is the Trinity, but others include the Hickory and the Ellenberger-San Saba (southern Mills County) and the Cross Timbers (western Mills County). The Colorado River marks the county's distinctive southwestern border and creates these fertile farming valleys: Big Valley, Jones Valley, and Hanna Valley. The Pecan Bayou enters the western part of the county from Brown County, then flows east and south towards the Colorado River; Blanket and Brown Creeks unite into the Pecan Bayou along the way. From west to east, these streams drain into the Colorado River: Comanche Creek, Buffalo Creek, Rough Creek, King Creek, Pecan Bayou, Prescott Creek, Bull Creek, Nabors Creek, and Shaw Creek. North and South Bennett Creeks and Simms Creek, all in the eastern part of the county, drain into the Lampasas River. The northern parts of the county have Mountain Creek, Cowhouse Creek, and Washboard Creek that eventually drain into the Brazos River.

The county's topography features low, broken hills. The Cowhouse Mountains, which are part of an extensive range of hills located in the Lampasas Cut Plain, cross the county from the southeast to the northwest. One part of the Cowhouse Range enters the county north of Star and leaves the county north of Priddy; another part of Cowhouse enters the county near Moline before taking a northwesterly exit into Comanche County. San Saba Peak, at a height of 1,712 feet, a prominent mountain in the county, was named in 1732 by Don Juan Antonio Bustillo y Cevallos, the Spanish governor of Texas.

Central Texas, which includes Mills County, contains some of the oldest rocks in the state.

Adjacent counties

Brown County (northwest)

Comanche County (north)

Hamilton County (northeast)

Lampasas County (southeast)

San Saba County (southwest)

Climate

Mills County typically offers hot summers and cool winters. Rainfall tends to be spread throughout the year, and snowfall is infrequent. The county typically receives 25-26 inches of rain a year based on historical records. Records show a high historical yearly rainfall of 26.75 inches. Yearly rainfall for 2023-2025 was above average: 28.85 inches in 2023; 34.7 inches in 2024; and 32.3 inches in 2025. Averaging 14 miles per hour, prevailing winds come from the south-southeast. The county's growing season last 230 days. The Köppen Climate Classification for Goldthwaite, the county seat, is "humid subtropical" (Cfa).

Highest monthly precipitation was 13.71 inches, recorded in October 2018.

One long-time county resident recalls the acute droughts of 2011 and the seven-year drought that occurred in the 1950s.

Communities

Bethel - one of a trio of towns located near each other that also included North Bennett and Liveoak

Big Valley - located near the Colorado River in the southwestern part of the county; once in Lampasas County; settled as early as 1859; divided into Upper Big Valley and Lower Big Valley; since the early 1870s, identified as the "backbone" of Mills County agricultural production; upper and lower valley schools consolidated about 1921, when a new school building was erected; post office discontinued in the early 1900s; known as the "Gateway to San Saba County"; citizens left the lower valley in the early 1940s when the land became a one-thousand acre pecan orchard owned by the Leonard Brothers

Bull's Creek - an early settlement started by James (Jim) Bull near the eponymous creek south of Goldthwaite around 1859; its school was started in 1899 before consolidating with Fairview to form Cedar Knob in 1917; it also had a cemetery

Caradan - originally known as "Lookout"; established in 1898 and named after Sam Caraway and Dan Bush, both early settlers; Lookout School built around 1878; Live Oak School District recognized in 1888; Midway School was the result of the consolidation of North Bennett and Gray in 1913, consolidated with Goldthwaite in 1947

Cedar Knob - early settlers were W.N. Sullivan and A.C. Sullivan, sheep farmers; schoolhouse erected that also served as church and prompted renaming the community "Fairview"; school consolidated with Bull's Creek and called "Cedar Knob" before finally consolidating with Goldthwaite

Center City - located ten miles east of Goldthwaite and first known as Hughes Store. It was named for an old oak tree, "center oak," that an 1870s survey identified as the center of Texas. The first Justice Court proceedings, presided over by Judge J.P. Grundy, were carried out between 1887 and 1890 under the tree before Mills County formed. The tree also furnished shade for the first school classes. In the early 1870s, many expected Center City to be named county seat as a logical choice based on its history as a hub for freight and stage line. A town square plan was developed by Mr. and Mrs. Hughes that accommodated a courthouse, and eventually a list of businesses sprung up, including several saloons, a drug store, two blacksmith shops, a hotel, and several other stores. It was a centrally located resting point for postal carriers. Its first church was organized in 1875 and was used for school and lodge. During its peak, the population is estimated to have reach 1,000 citizens. Likewise, residents anticipated the railroad to pass through the town, but it did not.

Demographics

2020 census

As of the 2020 census, the county had a population of 4,456. The median age was 50.1 years. 19.9% of residents were under the age of 18 and 29.8% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 99.1 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 95.7 males age 18 and over.

The racial makeup of the county was 82.0% White, 0.7% Black or African American, 0.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1% Asian, <0.1% Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander, 6.4% from some other race, and 10.4% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino residents of any race comprised 16.3% of the population.

<0.1% of residents lived in urban areas, while 100.0% lived in rural areas.

There were 1,843 households in the county, of which 26.0% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 55.5% were married-couple households, 16.9% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 24.3% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 27.6% of all households were made up of individuals and 16.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.

There were 2,529 housing units, of which 27.1% were vacant. Among occupied housing units, 80.0% were owner-occupied and 20.0% were renter-occupied. The homeowner vacancy rate was 3.2% and the rental vacancy rate was 10.7%.

A 2022 report showed that home values in Mills County increased at a record rate compared to other counties in the state, rising by 98.7% since November 2017. An average home ballooned from $179,000 to over $355,000.

Religion

Early settlers in the mid-1850s represented a range of faiths, led in numbers by the Methodists. During the county's formation days, denominations were less important. Early sermons were delivered by circuit riders, and a Methodist rider delivered the first religious service at the home of Charles Mullin in 1857. Later brush arbor revivals became popular before camp meetings started attracting congregants.

A 1972 study canvassing citizens of Star and Center City revealed that a majority of citizens had Protestant fundamentalist spiritual beliefs, with over 80% affiliated with Baptist, Methodist, or Church of Christ denominations.

The Mills County Historical Commission details fifty-seven cemeteries in Mills County. Early settlers buried their dead near their homes in post oak slabs fashioned into coffins by the local carpenter.

Economy

The county has historically sustained its economy with farming and ranching operations of varying sizes, with small businesses and recreational hunting providing additional income. By 1890, agriculture had established an economic base in the county. Agritourism, including recreational hunting and fishing, continues to supplement the economy. The county's deer population started growing after screwworm eradication programs were developed.

Mineral resources in the county are minimal: a small vein of coal was discovered near Ebony around 1950, and Weston No. 1 Well, located in the Rock Springs Community, produced very little gas and oil. Much later, in 1982, oil made another appearance, yielding 28,122 barrels, yet by 1990, oil production ceased.

Farming and ranching

Records show that the county has featured a large population of sheep and goats. Sheep reached a peak of 133,737 head in 1940, and goats reached a peak of 118,009 in 1964. Cattle fluctuated from a low of 16,279 head in 1940 to a high of 48,901 in 1978. Total animal units in the county was 41,745 in 1935 before reaching a peak of 69,429 AU in 1969. The 2012 agricultural census reported 34,294 sheep, 23,325 goats, and 32,663 head of cattle, with 42,568 AU. Average ranch size was 109 hectares in 1935 before reaching a peak size of 256 hectares in 1969. The 2012 agricultural census reported a decrease to an average size of 219 hectares.

By 1890, there were 680 farms and ranches in the county, consisting of 142,299 acres, with 25,000 head of cattle and 23,000 sheep.

By 1930, the county produced 32,000 acres of cotton, 21,300 head of cattle, 68,000 goats (many raised for mohair), 78,000 sheep, and 67,000 chickens.

In 1979, Mills County ranked among the top ten Texas counties in the mohair industry: eighth in number of Angora goats (38,000 head) and seventh in pounds of mohair produced (386,000 pounds). Total county income in 1979 from both mohair and wool reached more than $65.9 million.

Farming and ranching in the county have historically had about equal importance, and most agricultural operations had both. The natural resources of pre-Mills county in Brown, Comanche, Hamilton, and Lampasas counties offered good support for early farming and ranching, yet most of the early settlers made their living by hunting. Game provided food and pelts were often sent to Houston to sell. By the early 1890s, large game such as bear, panther, and jaguar had been evacuated from the county, leaving hunters smaller game such as bobcat, fox, wolf, coon, and possums. Game was the only substantive food for early settlers; deer, however, served various needs: in many households, they were the main meat and they sold antler and skins. Hogs were once raised county-wide for meat.

One report from 1957 identifies that only nineteen percent of the land can be tilled, placing an emphasis on grazing land.

Renewable energy

There are currently four wind energy projects operating in Mills County that feature a total of 277 turbines and generate an estimated 846 MW of power.

Castle Gap Wind Power LLC [partially in Lampasas County]

Flat Top Wind I LLC

Goldthwaite Wind Energy LLC

Priddy Wind Project LLC

Government

Mills County's governing body is a commissioner's court operating under Dillon's Rule, consisting of a county judge and four commissioners.

Education

School districts covering parts of the county include:

Brookesmith Independent School District

Comanche Independent School District

Goldthwaite Consolidated Independent School District

Hamilton Independent School District

Lometa Independent School District

Mullin Independent School District

Priddy Independent School District

Zephyr Independent School District

Former school districts:

Star Independent School District - Merged into Goldthwaite ISD on July 1, 2014.

All of Mills County is in the Central Texas College District.

History of education

Early settlers taught their children the rudiments of reading, writing, and arithmetic at home when time allowed and within the limited boundaries of what they knew. The first schools were held in the summertime under brush arbors, and teachers' meager pay was supplemented by gifts of provisions and free rent. Attendance was poor due to the long distances that students had to travel. Taught self-reliance and independence at home, lots of students defied the direction of teachers. One of the early school teachers before Mills County was Phil H. Clements, who was teaching in 1878 after moving to Williams Ranch. The concept of grades did not exist in the early days: students were classified according to reading level, e.g. second reader. Often older, advanced students were called upon to teacher their juniors.

School buildings started appearing in the 1860s and early 1870s, which were constructed by local men of logs with dirt floors, appointed with split-log benches and fireplaces, which a few years later were replaced by wood stoves. Eventually log schools evolved into lumber-based buildings as material became available. Schools usually had one room that had partitions made of panels or curtains for classrooms. Books were donated by parents. Most early schools had a tower with a bell, which rang out to announce the start of the school day. Most also had a stage with a curtain made of advertising squares promoting local merchants, along with artistic embellishments, which was a source of community pride. State support of pre-Mills County schools was minimal in the early days: for instance, Williams Ranch received ninety-nine dollars in 1878. Students brought simple lunches in lard buckets, usually consisting of leftover bisquits. In the early days, only Goldthwaite, Mullin, Priddy, and Star offered high school diplomas.

An important order of business at the first meeting of the Mills County Commissioner's Court on October 12, 1887, was to incorporate schools that existed at the time into the a new county educational system, including establishing local school taxes.

In 1900, Mr. and Mrs. T.W. Hatcher organized the Mills County Institute, also known as Hatcher University, in Goldthwaite on Fisher Street. It closed in 1907.

In 1907, the "Self Culture Club" opened the first community library in the M.L. Brown Drug Store. Miss Alline Howell, a teacher at the Rye Valley School, gathered community support to open the first county school library in 1915. Its first collection of books were purchased as a lot from Farm and Ranch Magazine.

Recreation

The early county residents enjoyed a number of diversions, including dancing, attending movies, running horse races, going to town on Saturdays, and drinking at the saloons. The first Mills County fairgrounds, located on the south side of Goldthwaite to the east of Livestock Commission Company, had a number of features, including a race track, baseball and football fields, an exhibition building, a band and dance platform, and sometimes a skating rink. It also hosted a carnival. All Goldthwaite football games were held at the football field at the fairgrounds—without bleachers–until a stadium was built near the school in the late 1930s. The circus, hosted in Goldthwaite, also attracted residents from across the county. Another regular diversion for county residents were medicine shows, held in Goldthwaite, in which proprietors put on an entertaining show designed to sell nostrums. In the 1920s, Lake Merrit attracted many Mills County residents, who camped and swam there.

Goldthwaite is home to the Texas State Championship BBQ & Goat Cook-off, which was started in 1996.

An abundance of deer, dove, hogs, turkey, and small game attracts recreational hunters from Texas and beyond. Fishing is also a popular activity in the county.

The annual Mills County Youth Fair & Stock Show, a collaboration of FFA, FHA, and 4-H chapters from across the county, has been in operation for over 80 years. Mills County Extension Agent Tom Guthrie observed, "I think this is probably the largest single event in the county that brings kids and adults from all over Mills County together.

The Goldthwaite Theatre, established in 2017, occupies a historic property in downtown Goldthwaite that was once an opera house in the late nineteenth century. The building is owned by the city's Economic Development Corporation.

Politics

In a groundbreaking political study published in 1964, Mills County was identified as being entrenched in liberalism with voters overwhelmingly supporting Democratic politicians, owing to the county's southern heritage of liberal populism and single-party politics. In 2010, The Goldthwaite Eagle reported the county's dramatic shift to the Republican party following a long history of landslide Democratic voting in local elections.

Votes cast at the county's general election for November 8, 2022, showed a 90% Republican and 10% Democratic split.

Historical notes

The Populist Party was at its height in Mills County towards the end of the nineteenth century.

A prohibition movement starting in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries lead to a ban on alcohol in the Goldthwaite School District; in 1908, liquor ban went into effect for the whole county. A local option election held on November 8, 2016, lifted the ban on alcohol sales within the Goldthwaite city limits (357 votes for and 277 against).

A special buffalo bar-b-que organized by a number of local businessman in 1948 welcomed Lyndon B. Johnson, who arrived by helicopter and delivered a speech to a crowd of 2,500 at the baseball field near Lampasas Commission Company.

Media

The first known newspaper, preceding the formation of Mills County, was the Rancho Rackett, which started around 1880 at Williams Ranch. A broadside appeared in Goldthwaite, printed on a portable press by Lampasas resident "Calamity" Bonner, and is credited as the first paper distributed in the town. The Goldthwaite Mountaineer was published by W.H. Thompson starting on March 5, 1886, before ending publication in 1898 under Col. J.K. Street and merging with the Brownwood Record. Col. Street, after publishing The Goldthwaite Mountaineer for about three months, determined that the town could not sustain two newspapers. The first profitable weekly newspaper, The Mountain Eagle, was established by W.H. Thompson and R.M. Thompson in 1894. An early issue of the paper identifies itself as "the organ of Mills County." The same year a weekly called The Mills County Advocate commenced publication. In 1896, The Mountain Eagle was sold, and its name changed to The Goldthwaite Eagle. The Mullin Enterprise, which began in 1902, merged with The Eagle in 1950.

Mills County is part of the Waco/Temple/Killeen (Central Texas) DMA. Local media outlets include: KCEN-TV, KWTX-TV, KXXV-TV, KWKT-TV and KNCT-TV. Two other television stations from the Abilene/Sweetwater/Brownwood DMA provide coverage for Mills County, KTAB-TV and KRBC-TV. KRNR FM 92.7, "Redneck Radio," currently broadcasts from Goldthwaite. During the 1920s, a radio station owned by the Eagle Publishing Company, KGKB (frequency 1070 KC), broadcast from The Goldthwaite Eagle editorial offices before moving to Brownwood.

Transportation

Pioneers traveled through pre-Mills County by wagon pulled by ox, mule, or horse teams on primitive clearings through wooded areas or via crude trails that were often nearly impassable in wet conditions due to mud holes. Rivers were forded, but some waterways had log bridges. They went to Waco or Houston for supplies—a round trip to Waco took seven to ten days. Freight wagons moved the same way loaded with hogs, wood, hides, pelts, and pecans to be traded for supplies, and they were sometimes followed by a herd of cattle.

Today the county maintains approximately 445 miles of county roads.

In 1901, before the Texas Highway Department was formed, county roads were maintained via a $3.00-per-person tax, known as the "road tax." Instead of paying the tax, a person could work three days a week on the road or hire someone else to take his place.

Railroad

The railroad had a profound impact on the development of the county. In 1885, the Gulf, Colorado, and Santa Fe Railroad laid tracks through Goldthwaite, Pegtown, and Mullin, then onto Brownwood, bypassing Williams Ranch and Center City, both of which had anticipated being stops. The primary impetus for the railroad to pass through the county was to reach San Angelo livestock markets.

The railroad created Goldthwaite and Mullin, similar to about twenty other townsites the railroad platted and auctioned along its path. On September 2, 1885, two years before Mills County formed, a GC&SFR train made a stop at Goldthwaite (then in Brown County), and on that day Thos. W. Jackson, Santa Fe Land Commissioner, begin auctioning lots that would be the foundation of the town. On December 31, 1885, regular train service began in Goldthwaite, with the town serving as a division point. By 1886, the railroad was the largest employer in the county, with thirty-six in its workforce. In 1905, the railroad boosted land ownership and farming in Mills County by offering employees the option to purchase land along its tracks through payroll deductions.

Major highways

U.S. Highway 84

U.S. Highway 183

State Highway 16

Loop 15

Mail

Before the postal service arrived in pre-Mills County in the late 1870s, mail was carried by travelers or cowboys from San Saba. The earliest known postmaster in the area was James D. Williams at Williams Ranch, who was appointed on January 16, 1877. Miss Dera Humphries is recognized as first woman mail carrier in Mills County, serving from 1921 to 1941.

Significant structures

Mills County's first courthouse, officially recognized on June 25, 1890, was built by John Cormack of Lampasas and paid by bonds amounting to $27,500. On May 5, 1912, the courthouse burned, allegedly by arson. After the fire, a controversy erupted over whether the replacement courthouse should be built in Goldthwaite or Mullin, some arguing that Mullin was closer to the center of the county and should be named the new county seat. The Texas Land Commissioner located the center of the county, closer to Goldthwaite, and marked it with a bronze marker designated "Center Point." Goldthwaite would remain the county seat. Later that year, the county hired Henry T. Phelps to design and specify a new courthouse, and construction was completed by the Gordon-Jones Construction Company on November 17, 1913, at a cost of around $69,000. The classical revival courthouse was recently renovated through a grant from the Texas Historic Courthouse Preservation Program. In 1915 during Jim Crow, a Confederate Memorial Monument was placed on the courthouse grounds in Goldthwaite, funded by public donations, the civic organization Self Culture Club, Jeff Davis Camp 117, and the United Confederate Veterans.

Called the "Goldthwaite Calaboose," the first jail in Mills County was ordered to be built in 1887 at a cost of $15.00. It was an eight-foot square building made of 2" x 12" lumber that was located on the south side of the courthouse square. On October 12, 1887, county judge J.B. Head began to take bids for building a new jail. The limestone jail that still stands was built by Green and Nichols of Lampasas at a cost of $8,850; it was completed in April 1888, six months and nine days following ground breaking. J.B. Dumas, the designer, specified that the upper floor contain prisoner cells and the bottom floor accommodate sheriff's offices. Diebold Safe and Lock Company made the cells and ironwork. It served as the county jail until the 1950s and was in use until 1977. In 1965, it received a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark designation and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1979.