Lange's Mill

Duane's take

The way the marker tells it, here's the story of Lange's Mill. Back in 1849, the Doss brothers came out to this stretch of Gillespie County and established a mill. Just like that.

They planted it in the land and set it to work. Now, the story doesn't end with the Doss brothers. By 1859, a man named William F.

Lange had taken over operations, and for the next nineteen years he kept that mill grinding. Nineteen years is a long time to keep stone turning, and William F. Lange did exactly that, right up to 1878.

Then Julius Lange stepped in and carried it another decade, running the mill all the way through 1888. Two Langes, back to back, the name becoming as much a part of this place as the millstone itself. And what came out of that mill?

Products famed throughout the region. That's not modesty talking. That's what the record says.

Famed. Throughout the region. Out here in the Hill Country, word travels, and the word on Lange's Mill traveled far.

Now here's what makes this place worth slowing down for. That mill is one of the last of the old burr mills in Texas, and one of the very few left standing in as perfect a state of preservation as you'll find anywhere. Think about that.

All the decades, all the weather, all the years since Julius Lange locked up for the last time in 1888, and this mill is still here, still intact, holding its ground. And if the mill alone isn't enough to pull you off the road, consider what's waiting nearby. On a cliff, not far from where those millstones once turned, are Indian pictographs.

Ancient marks on ancient rock, keeping quiet company with one of Texas's last surviving burr mills. Some places just accumulate history, layer by layer, and this is one of them.

What the marker says

Established in 1849 by Doss brothers. Operated 1859-1878 by William F. Lange, 1878-1888 by Julius Lange. Its products were famed throughout the region. One of the last of the old burr mills in Texas, one of few in as perfect a state of preservation. Near by on a cliff are Indian pictographs.