Wimberley Mills

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker at Wimberley Mills tells it, and I'm gonna pass it right along to you. In 1848, a man named William C. Winters came riding into this valley — and he wasn't just any settler.

He was a veteran of San Jacinto, born in 1809, and he had the eye of someone who knew how to read land and water. What he saw on Cypress Creek told him exactly what to do. He built a grist mill and a sawmill, and just like that, a settlement called Winters' Mill began to emerge from the wilderness.

Now, the wilderness didn't give that up without a fight. Around 1856, a flood came through and destroyed the millhouse. Most men might've taken that as a sign.

Winters took it as an inconvenience. He moved to higher ground across the creek and built a brand new two-story millhouse — with a long millrace and a tailrace to match. The man was not easily discouraged.

But 1864 came, and with it, the death of William C. Winters. The mill, though, kept right on turning.

His son-in-law, John M. Cude, stepped in and operated the mill successfully enough that the village itself took on a new name — Cude's Mill. That's the kind of continuity that doesn't happen by accident.

Then, in 1874, a man named Pleasant Wimberley arrived — born in 1823 — and he bought the whole mill complex. And when I say complex, I mean it. We're talking a stone flour mill, a French buhrstone grist mill, a sawmill, a shingle mill, and a one-stand cotton gin, all powered by a twenty-one-inch turbine type waterwheel.

Pleasant Wimberley had not come to do things small. By 1880, the post office opened under the name Wimberley Mills — and before long, they just went ahead and called it Wimberley. The early 1880s brought trouble to the shingle mill — a short supply of cypress wood closed it down.

Then in 1893, the flour mill shut its doors. And here's where Cypress Creek itself starts to become part of the story, because the creek was running lower and lower, its flow diminishing year by year. By 1900, the whole operation was converted to steam power and the millhouse was rebuilt just to keep things going.

And go they did — for a while longer. But in 1934, after more than eighty-five years of service on Cypress Creek, the milling enterprise was abandoned. More than eight decades of grain and lumber and shingles and cotton, from a San Jacinto veteran's first vision of this valley, down to the last breath of steam on a quieting creek.

That's not just a mill. That's a place that refused to quit — right up until it finally did.

What the marker says

In 1848 William C. Winters (1809-64), a veteran of San Jacinto, came to this valley and built a grist mill and sawmill on Cypress Creek. A settlement called Winters' Mill soon emerged from the wilderness. After a flood destroyed the millhouse about 1856, winters moved to higher ground across the creek and built a new 2-story millhouse with a long millrace and tailrace. after Winters' death in 1864, his son-in-law John M. Cude operated the mill successfully and the village came to be called Cude's Mill. Pleasant Wimberley (1823-1919) in 1874 bought the mill complex which included a stone flour mill, French buhrstone grist mill, sawmill, shingle mill, and a one-stand cotton gin, powered by a 21-inch turbine type waterwheel. The "Wimberley Mills" Post Office, opened in 1880, soon was renamed "Wimberley." A short supply of cypress wood in the early 1880s caused the shingle mill to close. In 1893 the flour mill shut down. Because of the diminishing flow of Cypress Creek, the operation was converted to steam power in 1900 and the millhouse was rebuilt in order to continue in operation. The milling enterprise was abandoned in 1934, after over 85 years of service on Cypress Creek. (1974)