ANDERSON MILL, TEXAS. Anderson Mill, sometimes called Anderson's Mill or Anderson's Mills, was located on Cypress Creek in northwestern Travis County, about sixteen miles northwest of Austin. It was named for Thomas Anderson, who came to Texas from Virginia in the late 1850s. In the early 1860s he built a mill to make gunpowder for the Confederacy; when the war was over he converted the operation to a gristmill. Farmers came from miles away to have their corn ground, sometimes having to camp near the mill for several days to wait their turn. In the early 1870s Anderson added a cotton gin to his operation. A post office opened at Anderson Mill in 1876 with Anderson as postmaster. In 1884 the community had a population of thirty. When the post office was discontinued later that year, mail for area residents was sent to Duval. The development of steam-powered mills and gins gradually forced Anderson out of business. After his death in 1894 his family sold the equipment and moved to Austin. A historical marker was placed near the mill site in 1936.

BIBLIOGRAPHY: John J. Germann and Myron Janzen, Texas Post Offices by County (1986). Ellen Seals, ed., A Legend Collection: Fact and Fantasy (Austin, 1981).

Vivian Elizabeth Smyrl