Sunday Doings

The sun rises on another very HOT day. In fact it turns out it is the hottest day ever recorded in Texas. 112 degrees.

After church we went to lunch with some of our friends and decided to find the Anderson Mill Museum. They had advertised an open house and ice cream social. It is in a rather secluded spot above Cypress Creek.

In the early 1850's, Thomas and Lucy Anderson found a veritable paradise by the shores of Cypress Creek. In 1863 Thomas and his sons, Abe and Ed, built a mill to create gunpowder. They dug bat guano from nearby caves to make saltpeter, then mixed with sulfer and charcoal (burning mesquite trees for charcoal). They supplied the confederate army with the gunpowder.

After the war, the mill was converted to a grist mill and farmers from miles around brought their corn to be ground. Sometimes they camped near the mill while they waited their turn. When Cotton became more popular to be grown, they again converted the mill to clean the cotton of seeds etc. I think they called it a cotton gin.

In 1941 the mill was in ruins and soon to be flooded by the creation of Lake Travis when they built the Mansfield Dam . They moved the remains of the mill to the present site. A replica of the original mill was built in 1966. They also built a 2 story building which houses the current museum. The caretakers and builders of the current site are the Anderson Mill Gardeners.

Sunrise on another hot day.

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Mill on the right and Museum building on the left.

The mill stone which is still used to grind corn into cornmeal. They do this twice a year and sell it to help in the upkeep of the mill.

The water wheel has fallen apart with age and they hope to rebuild it. The creek is currently dry, but when it is running, they bring the water in a trough over the top of the building and down onto the wheel, making it turn.

Replica of the house and the mill (below). I would have taken more pictures, but read a sign asking people not to!! The downstairs room of the museum was about the mill and the upstairs was more about the living quarters etc.

Back into the air conditioning for our ice cream and cookie treat. Also needed to cool off. This was the Garden Club meeting room. Gearld Koonce, Betty Beatty, Betty Sue Koonce and Bob in the picture. In the mirror you can see me taking the picture.

It was a fun afternoon and we are looking forward to some more adventures another day.