Junction's First Waterworks

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about Junction's first waterworks: and friend, this is one worth hearing. Way out in Kimble County, before anybody in Junction ever thought to flip a tap, one man looked at the South Llano River and saw something most folks would've walked right past. That man was Ernest Holekamp.

Now Holekamp had come to Junction City back in 1881, and by the time 1895 rolled around, he had built himself a reputation as a business leader worth listenin' to. So when he said he wanted to dig a canal (a canal, mind you, starting half a mile south of the Courthouse) people paid attention. And they dug it.

That canal ran with an average bottom width of six feet and carried water running three to four feet deep. Not a creek, not a ditch; a working, moving vein of water cut right into the earth by human hands. That water didn't just sit there lookin' pretty, either.

It went to work. It supplied water to homes. It furnished the power to run a grist mill, a cotton gin, and a sawmill.

One canal, pulling multiple kinds of weight for an entire community. Holekamp named the whole operation the Junction City Milling Company, and it hummed along, though I'll tell you, it didn't stay in any one set of hands for long. That system changed ownership six times before all was said and done.

Six times. Some things of value just keep moving until the right owner comes along. In 1928, the city of Junction finally purchased it, folding it into what would become the present city waterworks.

And Holekamp himself? Well, the canal wasn't even close to the whole of the man's story. He went on to become the first president of Kimble County State Bank, and in 1927, Junction made him its first mayor.

First mayor. The man who dug water out of the South Llano River for his neighbors lived to see them hand him the keys to the whole town. That's not a coincidence; that's a career.

What the marker says

Predecessor of present city waterworks. Supplied water to homes and furnished power to run grist mill, cotton gin, and sawmill. Business leader Ernest Holekamp had canal dug in 1895, beginning at South Llano River, 1/2 mile south of Courthouse. Average bottom width was 6 feet, with depth of water from 3 to 4 feet. The system, named Junction City Milling Company, changed hands 6 times. It was purchased by city in 1928. Holekamp, who came to city in 1881, was first president of Kimble County State Bank and first mayor of Junction, 1927.