DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about Mills Wharf, out on the Aransas County coast. Now, you want to talk about a place that had a little bit of everything — let me tell you about Mills Wharf. John Howard Mills built it in 1932, and from that moment on, it became one of the most renowned centers for waterfowl hunting and fishing anywhere along this stretch of Texas coastline.
We're talkin' the 1930s all the way through to 1960, when it was finally sold. And this wasn't just a dock and a handshake. Mills Wharf had cottages, a cook house, a guide service office, a store, a tackle shop — the whole operation.
But here's where things get genuinely strange, and I mean that in the best possible way. On the premises sat a wildlife museum. A wildlife museum, at a fishing wharf.
And inside that museum lived a duck — a famous duck, if you can believe it — that had an oyster permanently attached to its foot. Permanently. Attached.
To its foot. That duck earned itself a feature in Ripley's Believe It or Not, which, when you think about it, is exactly where that duck belonged. Now, what helped put Mills Wharf on the map for visitors coming from farther afield was the new Highway 35 — the "Hug the Coast" highway, they called it — which made the wharf accessible and gave a real boost to the tourism industry in the area.
Then came 1946. Herbert and Harry Mills bought the wharf from their parents and decided that if a duck with an oyster on its foot was a good start, a seaplane service was an even better one. They expanded the business with a unique seaplane operation — dropping customers off at remote fishing sites that you simply couldn't reach any other way.
Think about that. You'd show up at Mills Wharf, climb into a seaplane, and get set down in the middle of nowhere with nothing but water, wildlife, and whatever you brought in your tackle box. Mills Wharf ran that whole remarkable show until 1960, when it was sold.
But that duck — oyster on its foot, immortalized in Ripley's — I'd say it earned its place in Texas history all on its own.
What the marker says
MILLS WHARF, BUILT BY JOHN HOWARD MILLS IN 1932, WAS A RENOWNED CENTER FOR WATERFOWL HUNTING AND FISHING FROM THE 1930s UNTIL IT WAS SOLD IN 1960. IT CONSISTED OF COTTAGES, A COOK HOUSE, A GUIDE SERVICE OFFICE, A STORE, A TACKLE SHOP, AND A UNIQUE WILDLIFE MUSEUM WITH A FAMOUS DUCK, FEATURED IN “RIPLEY’S BELIEVE IT OR NOT,” WHICH HAD AN OYSTER PERMANENTLY ATTACHED TO ITS FOOT. THE NEW “HUG THE COAST” HIGHWAY 35 MADE THE WHARF ACCESSIBLE, THEREBY AIDING THE GROWTH OF THE TOURISM INDUSTRY IN THE AREA. IN 1946, HERBERT AND HARRY MILLS BOUGHT THE WHARF FROM THEIR PARENTS AND EXPANDED THE BUSINESS WITH A UNIQUE SEAPLANE SERVICE TO DROP OFF CUSTOMERS AT REMOTE FISHING SITES. 175 YEARS OF TEXAS INDEPENDENCE * 1836-2011