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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) |
