Townsen's Mill

Duane's take

Here's the tale as the marker tells it, straight off the official record out in Lampasas County. Back in 1872, two brothers by the names of Perry and Jasper Townsen set themselves up on Mill Branch and got to work. They built a steam mill out there, and that mill did two things worth knowin about.

First, it cut what they called rawhide lumber. Now that's the marker's word for it, rawhide, and if you've ever tried to work with green rough-cut timber you might understand why somebody called it that. Second, the mill ground wheat and corn, which meant folks for miles around had a reason to make the trip.

A steam mill on Mill Branch was no small thing in 1872. That was the kind of enterprise that put a place on the map. And sure enough, by 1881 a post office had been established there, which is about as official as a settlement gets.

Then came 1891, and the post office packed up and moved. It relocated to the Adamsville store belonging to John Adams and a man named The Reverend McCall Smith. Now Reverend Smith wasn't just a storekeeper.

He built the earliest Presbyterian church in Adamsville, and he served as its pastor. One man, one town, a store and a church and a congregation. Perry and Jasper Townsen cut the lumber and ground the grain, the post office followed the people, and Reverend McCall Smith did his level best to tend to what was left.

What the marker says

Built on Mill Branch in 1872, Perry and Jasper Townsen's steam mill cut "rawhide" lumber and ground wheat and corn. Post office established 1881 moved in 1891 to Adamsville store of John Adams and The Rev. McCall Smith. Mr. Smith built, and was pastor of, earliest Presbyterian church there.