Enloe Mill
Colmesneil, Tyler County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Site of One of Earliest Tyler County Landmarks Enloe Mill (1 mi. south) A major contributor to county and state history. Built about 1840 on Billums Creek, where the swift current made by inflow of Belts Creek would turn a water-wheel, to generate power. Mill took name from owner Benjamin Enloe, an 1837 settler who bought this property in 1849. Enloe, his son David and grandson George were known to several generations as mill operators. From this mill came lumber for the first frame courthouse in Woodville, built in 1852 while David Enloe was county sheriff. As people came from wide region to this mill, there grew up one of area's main roads (later known as Boone's Ferry Road), connecting Fort Teran with the Old Spanish Trail from Liberty to Nacogdoches and crossing present road at this point. Enloe Mill, one of 27 in Tyler County by 1857, produced essentials of life for settlers: Cornmeal for their bread and lumber for erecting homes and other buildings. This mill also ginned cotton, their "money" product. Although long known for its raw materials rather than manufactured goods, Texas gained self-reliance from early landmarks such as Enloe Mill. (1968)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Benjamin Enloe, an 1837 settler, bought this Tyler County land in 1849 and built a water-powered mill on Billums Creek where the inflow of Belts Creek turned the wheel. Three generations of Enloes ground cornmeal, sawed lumber, and ginned cotton for settlers across a wide region — it even supplied the boards for Woodville's first frame courthouse in 1852. Traffic to the mill wore in one of the area's main roads, later Boone's Ferry Road, tying the settlement to the Old Spanish Trail.
Why it matters
One of 27 mills in the county by 1857, Enloe Mill shows how frontier Texas ground out its own self-reliance, turning raw creek water into the bread, lumber, and cash crop of everyday life.
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Related people
- · Benjamin Enloe
- · David Enloe
Themes & tags
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