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Mills County, Texas

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Contents

History/Timeline

Confederate statue

Formed From:

  • 1887--Mills County was created 15 March 1887 from Comanche, Brown, Hamilton, and Lampasas Counties. It is named for pioneer jurist John T. Mills.[1]

1786–1789 - Pedro Vial explores a route from San Antonio to Santa Fe for Spain and passes through the county.[2]
1828 Capt. Henry Stevenson Brown passes through the county to recover stock stolen by Indians.[2]
1852 Dick Jenkins becomes the county's first permanent settler. [2]
1856--The first white settlers arrived in 1856 and established Hanna Valley.[3]
1857 A Methodist circuit rider holds the county's first religious service in the cabin of Charles Mullin. [2]
1858 Mr. and Mrs. Mose Jackson and 2 of their children killed by Indians in attack at Jackson Springs. Two other children captured by Indians. A group of settlers chase down Indians at Salt Gap. A Company of Texas Rangers are able to recapture the two captive children. [2]
1862 Comanches (20) raided for horses were pursued by settlers to Pecan Bayou mouth. Three Indians, one white, O.F. Lindsey were killed. Indians killed rancher, John Morris, killing/wounding 7/27 raiding Indians.[4]
1862-65 - Fewer settlers joined the Confederate Army during the Civil War due to frontier being attacked by Indians and outlaws.
Post Civil War, white cattle rustlers, horse thieves, murderers, army deserters, and other rogues caused settlers more trouble than Indians. [4]
1869–1897 Lawlessness is rampant in post–Civil War Mills County. Vigilante committees create a reign of terror. Lynchings and assassinations become commonplace. The Texas Rangers are brought in to restore law and order.[2]

jail.

1885 Goldthwaite is established as the Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railway builds tracks into the region.[2]
1887 The Texas state legislature forms Mills County from Brown, Comanche, Hamilton, and Lampasas counties. Goldthwaite became the county seat. [2]
1887 The county was named in honor of John T. Mills, a early Judge, who successively held the judgeship of the Third, Seventh, and Eighth Judicial districts. Mills county Court house is located in Goldthwaite, Texas. According to the Mills County Historical The town was named for Joe G. Goldthwaite, the railroad official who conducted the auction of town lots. [5]
1890 The county courthouse is built.
1897 - Texas Rangers broke up a group of vigilantes gathered at Buzzard Roost.[4]
1905 A Confederate Reunion is held in Goldthwaite.[2] 1912 The courthouse burns down arson suspected.[2][4]
1913 A new brick, stone and concrete courthouse is erected in the Classical Revival style by architect Henry Phelps.[2]
1915 The Confederate Memorial Monument is placed on the courthouse grounds in Goldthwaite. The statue was funded by public donations, the civic organization Self Culture Club, Jeff Davis Camp 117, and United Confederate Veterans.[2]
1930-1940 - The Great Depression 1930s, although federal relief projects helped to offset some of the worst effects. Cropland harvested in the county dropped to 78,372 acres in 1940.[4]
1982 Oil is discovered in Mills County.[2]

Government Offices

1st courthouse, 1890 -The first courthouse was built in 1890, the year after Goldthwaite became the county seat. The courthouse burned in 1912

1912--The Mills County Courthouse, built in 1889, burned on May 5, 1912. No records were lost in the fire.
1890 Courthouse.

2nd Courthouse, 1913 completed in 1913 by the Gordon-Jones Construction Company. Phelps chose the Classical Revival style for the three-story structure with basement, using a rectangular form, a central, ornamental pediment and fluted, columns.

1913 courthouse.
Geography
Size area of 750 square miles (1,900 km2), of which 748 square miles (1,940 km2) is land and 1.5 square miles (3.9 km2) (0.2%) is water.

https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/hcm14

Mills County is in central Texas partly in Grand Prairie and partly in western Cross Timbers.
Center lies at 31°30' north latitude, 98°35' west longitude, 110 miles NW of Austin.
Named for John T. Mills
Size covers 734 sq. mi. of hills and plateaus that drain to Colorado River, W boundary. :Elevations 1,100 to 1,700 feet above sea level.
Hills, Mountains- range of hills, Cowhouse Mountains, extends from SE to NW and picturesque San Saba peak (1,712 feet) is a local landmark.
Vegetation- San Saba peak is covered in cedars, large white rocks and is a local landmark.
Rivers -Pecan Bayou flows N to S across the western section.
Soils are alluvial, black waxy, sandy, and loam
Trees - live oak, post oak, cottonwood, shinnery, and pecan.
Temperatures minimum of 34° F in January to of 87° F in July.
Rainfall is 27.52 inches
Growing season lasts 230 days. T
Agricultural economy income of $28 million, 90% from sheep, beef cattle, goats, and hogs; crops of small grains, sorghums,
Manufactures, farm equipment, yield $2,200,000 annually. Fishing and hunting support a tourist industry on the Colorado River.
Major roads are U.S. Highway 84/183 (west to east) and State Highway 16 (north to south).

https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/hcm14

Adjacent counties

  • Comanche County (north)
  • Hamilton County (northeast)
.
  • Lampasas County (southeast)
  • San Saba County (southwest)
  • Brown County (northwest)


Protected areas

Demographics

In 2000, there were 5,151 people residing in the county with a population density of 7 people/sq.mi. The racial makeup of the county was 89.24% White, 1.26% Black or African American, 0.27% Native American, 0.08% Asian, 0.08% Pacific Islander, 7.73% from other races, and 1.34% from two or more races. Of the population, 13.03% were Hispanic. The median income for a household in the county was $30,579, and the median income for a family was $37,519. Males had a median income of $25,933 versus $20,076 for females. The per capita income for the county was $15,915. About 12.70% of families and 18.40% of the population were below the poverty line, including 22.40% of those under age 18 and 17.80% of those age 65 or over.[6]

Mills County is part of the Waco/Temple/Killeen (Central Texas) DMA. Local media outlets include: KCEN-TV, KWTX-TV, KXXV-TV, KDYW, KWKT-TV and KNCT-TV. Two other television stations from the Abilene/Sweetwater/Brownwood DMA provide coverage for Mills County, KTAB-TV and KRBC-TV.

Mills County is home to one area newspaper, The Goldthwaite Eagle.

Library-Comanche Public Library Churches

POLITICS: Democratic county. The voters of Mills County supported Democratic candidates in almost every presidential election between 1888 and 1948; the only exception occurred in 1928, when they supported Republican Herbert Hoover. In presidential elections between 1952 and 1992, except voting for Dwight D. Eisenhower 1952,1954, Richard Nixon,1960,1972, Ronald Reagan in 1984, and for George Bush in 1988. In 1992 a plurality of Mills County voters supported Bill Clinton, the Democratic candidate. [7]

CHURCHES https://www.familysearch.org/research/places/?reqParents=396317&reqParentsLabel=Mills,%20Texas,%20United%20States&reqParentsType=209&reqTypeGroups=3&reqTypeLabel=Churches%20and%20Church%20P

Cities/Towns

Goldthwaite hosts a bike rally in April and old timers rodeo in May


Ghost Town
Williams Ranch

Resources

Census

1890 --- 5,493 —
1900 --- 7,851 42.9%
1910 --- 9,694 23.5%
1920 --- 9,019 −7.0%
1930 --- 8,293 −8.0%
1940 --- 7,951 −4.1%
1950 --- 5,999 −24.6%
1960 --- 4,467 −25.5%
1970 --- 4,212 −5.7%
1980 --- 4,477 6.3%
1990 --- 4,531 1.2%
2000 --- 5,151 13.7%
2010 --- 4,936 −4.2%
Est. 2015 --- 4,900

https://www.familysearch.org/en/wiki/Mills_County,_Texas_Genealogy#Census

Cemeteries



Sources

  1. ↑ https://texasalmanac.com/index.php?q=topics/government/mills-county
  2. ↑ 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 2.11 2.12 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mills_County,_Texas
  3. ↑ https://familysearch.org/wiki/en/Mills_County,_Texas_Genealogy
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/hcm14
  5. ↑ https://familysearch.org/wiki/en/Mills_County,_Texas_Genealogy
  6. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mills_County,_Texas
  7. ↑ https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/hcm14




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