Zedler's Mills

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker at this site has to say, so settle in. Back in 1874, three men, John and James Merriwether and Leonidas Hardeman, built themselves a gristmill and a sawmill right here, anchored by a stone dam thrown across the San Marcos River. That's a serious piece of work, and it held.

Ten years on, in 1884, a group calling themselves the Luling Water Power Company stepped in to buy those mills. That outfit was Bob Innes, John Orchard, J. K.

Walker, and Fritz Zedler, and they didn't stop at what they found. They added a cotton gin to the operation. Now Fritz Zedler, a milling veteran by any measure, looked at what they had built and clearly liked what he saw.

In 1888 he bought out all the stock and made his eldest son a partner. Things were moving. Then the gin burned.

Could have been the end of that chapter, but it wasn't. They rebuilt it. More units were added on top of that.

Sons Herman and Charles joined the firm, and the Zedler name became the name you remembered when you thought of this bend of the San Marcos. By 1890 the Zedlers were furnishing water to the city, and by 1894 they were furnishing the city its power. That's a family business that grew roots deep enough to feed a whole town.

In time, as time tends to do, things wound down. Various mill units closed, one by one, until operations ceased altogether, about 1960. Nearly a century of grinding, sawing, ginning, and powering a community, started by three men with a stone dam and a good site on the San Marcos River.

What the marker says

John and James Merriwether and Leonidas Hardeman in 1874 built gristmill and sawmill at this site, with stone dam across the San Marcos. Bob Innes, John Orchard, J. K. Walker, and Fritz Zedler, as Luling Water Power Co., bought mills (1884), adding cotton gin. A milling veteran, Zedler in 1888 bought all stock and made eldest son partner. The gin, soon burned, was rebuilt. Units were added. Sons Herman and Charles joined firm. In 1890 and later, the Zedlers furnished water to city; 1894 and later, city power. In time various mill units closed; operations ceased about 1960.