Site of Clifton Mill

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about the Site of Clifton Mill, out here in Bosque County. Now, every good Texas story starts with somebody looking at a river and seeing possibility. In 1857, a man named R.G.

Grant, over from Coryell County, looked at the Bosque River and saw exactly that. He built a wooden mill right here on this site, letting those river waters do the heavy work and power his operation. Two years, that's all Grant had with it before the property transferred over to a J.H.

Stinnett. And Stinnett, well, he found a different use for the place. When the Civil War came rolling in, 1861 through 1865, that old mill building became a commissary and storehouse for the Confederate Army.

The grinding stopped. The storing started. Then 1867 arrived, and Stinnett sold the mill to a man named William L.

Kemp. Now here's where the story picks up a little speed. Kemp did not patch up that old wooden structure.

He tore it down. Leveled it. And in its place he built something new, something lasting.

Stone. A stone mill, rising up where the wooden one had stood. And that stone mill had work to do.

Real work. Kemp's mill was supplying flour and cornmeal to Texas frontier settlements, and the way that flour and meal got there is worth pausing on. Ox carts.

Groups of ox carts, hauling their loads out across hard country, traveling to places like Brownwood, Camp San Saba, and a string of forts: Concho, McKavett, Mason, Griffin, and Chadbourne. Those frontier posts were depending on what came rolling out of this mill right here on the Bosque River. In the late 1870s and into the early 1880s, the mill caught the attention of a man whose resume was considerable: Richard Coke, former United States senator and governor of Texas.

He held an interest in the mill alongside partners. That partnership ran its course, and in 1883, Coke and his partners sold their interest. From 1890 to 1901, the mill operated under the name of Clifton Steam and Water, and it was during this stretch that the place took on a character that people apparently felt compelled to photograph.

Renovations added a third story above an unusual S-curve Mansard roof, and up top, a cupola housing the grain elevator. The whole thing became, as the marker puts it, picturesque. And the mill had adapted, too.

When the river ran low, when dry seasons came on, an auxiliary steam plant was there to keep the power flowing. River or steam, this mill was going to run. Then came 1909, and the Clifton Electric Light Company purchased the mill and converted it into an electric power plant.

The age of the mill, in the old sense, was done. They sold it in 1911. After that, the mill sat vacant, waiting, until 1915, when it was purchased and demolished.

Just gone. The City of Clifton bought the site in the 1960s, and what remains now is the ground itself, some photographs, and the memory of what stood here. From R.G.

Grant's wooden mill in 1857, to ox carts bound for frontier forts, to a stone building handsome enough to warrant a cupola, to an electric power plant, to nothing at all by 1915. This river gave a lot to this stretch of Texas. The marker says it plainly: early settlers used the power of the river to feed and power Texas' burgeoning frontier.

The Bosque River kept running. The mill is gone. But the story, it's still here.

What the marker says

In 1857, R.G. Grant of Coryell County built a wooden mill at this site, using the waters of the Bosque River to power his operation. Two years later, the property transferred to J.H. Stinnett, and the mill building was used as a commissary and storehouse for the Confederate Army during the Civil War, 1861-1865. Stinnett sold the mill to William L. Kemp in 1867, and Kemp tore down the mill and built a new one of stone. Kemp's mill supplied flour and cornmeal to Texas frontier settlements. Ox carts hauling the flour and meal traveled in groups to places like Brownwood, Camp San Saba or forts Concho, McKavett, Mason, Griffin and Chadbourne. In the late 1870s and early 1880s, former U.S. senator and governor of Texas Richard Coke had an interest in the mill. He and his partners sold their interest in 1883. From 1890 to 1901, the mill operated under the name of Clifton Steam and Water. Renovations during this time added to its picturesque quality, including a third story above the unusual S-curve Mansard roof, as well as a cupola housing the grain elevator. The water-powered mill had an auxiliary steam plant for power during low stages of the river and dry seasons. In 1909, the Clifton Electric Light Company purchased the mill and converted it to an electric power plant, but they sold it in 1911. The mill sat vacant until it was purchased and demolished in 1915. The City of Clifton bought the site in the 1960s. Despite its demolition in the early 20th century, the mill building survives in memory and photographs. Here, early settlers used the power of the river to feed and power Texas' burgeoning frontier. (2003)