DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'm passing it along to you straight. Now, you might drive through this part of Navarro County today and not think much of it — but pull over a minute, because this ground has got some history baked right into it, same as the flour that made this place what it was. Back in the 1860s, somebody built a flour mill here, and that was no small thing.
Flour was a luxury out on the Texas frontier. Not an everyday staple — a Sunday staple. Yeast bread, cakes, biscuits — the kind of food that meant something special was happening at the table.
So people came. They came from considerable distances, hauling their wheat, and when they got here, they waited. Sometimes for days.
Think about that. Days. Just to have their grain ground into something finer.
That mill was a destination. In 1867, the original mill property was bought from a man named R. A.
Younger by John Summers and sons, and from there the thing took on a life of its own — several local residents owned shares in the mill over the ensuing years. The waters of Rock Creek furnished the power to keep those stones turning. And where a mill goes, a community follows.
Besides the flour mill, there was a cotton gin, and there may well have been other mills on that same stretch of creek. A post office — the Navarro Mills Post Office — opened in 1874. A store came.
A school. A blacksmith shop. Other facilities got developed until this little bend in the road was a proper community with proper business to attend to.
Local leaders stepped up, among them two Confederate veterans: W. C. French, born in 1821 and gone by 1897, and R.
J. Wright, born in 1837, who lived all the way to 1926. Now, the mill itself — the whole reason this place existed — ceased operating in 1881.
The post office followed it out the door in 1882, though it did come back briefly in later years, as if it couldn't quite let go. But here's the thing about a real community: it doesn't just fold up because the machinery goes quiet. The people stayed.
They built. An 1880s newcomer was a former county judge by the name of James C. Key — born 1817, died 1910 — and his surname lives on to this day in the landmark Tandy Key Road.
The cemetery is still there. The Baptist church, formed in 1901, is still there. And the tabernacle built in 1915 marks the site of that historic village like a hand pressed flat against the earth, saying: something happened here.
Something worth remembering. And now you know.
What the marker says
A flour mill built here in the 1860s drew pioneer commerce to this site. Flour was a luxury, used mostly for yeast bread, cakes, and biscuits served on Sundays or special occasions. People traveled for considerable distances with their wheat, and waited sometimes for days to have it ground. The original mill property was bought from R. A. Younger in 1867 by John Summers and sons. Several local residents owned shares in ensuing years. The waters of Rock Creek furnished power. Besides this mill and a cotton gin, there may have been other mills here. The Navarro Mills Post Office opened in 1874. A store, school, blacksmith shop, and other facilities were developed. Local leaders included Confederate veterans W. C. French (1821-97) and R. J. Wright (1837--1926). The flour mill ceased operating in 1881. The post office closed in 1882, to be revived only briefly in later years. The community continued to thrive, however. An 1880s newcomer was a former county judge, James C. Key (1817-1910), whose surname survives in the landmark Tandy Key Road. The cemetery, the Baptist church that was formed in 1901, and the tabernacle built in 1915 mark the site of the historic village.