HistoricSiteMarkers
Reconstruction & Gilded Age

Site of Sherman's Mill

Ingram, Kerr County, Texas

Marker Inscription

A pioneer Kerr County water-powered mill located near Kelly Creek-Guadalupe River confluence. It ground corn, sawed lumber, ginned cotton. Built in 1870s by John Sherman, it was in use until destroyed by flood in 1932. Sherman, his wife, and 8 children lived in house still standing nearby. (1972) Incise on base of marker: Marker Sponsor: A Sherman descendant, Dovie Turk Talley

Erected by Texas Historical Commission

The Story

John Sherman built this water-powered mill near the meeting of Kelly Creek and the Guadalupe River in the 1870s, and it worked as the community's all-purpose engine — grinding corn, sawing lumber, and ginning cotton. Sherman raised his wife and eight children in a house that still stands nearby. The mill ran until a 1932 flood finally destroyed it.

Why it matters

A multipurpose water mill was the industrial heart of a frontier neighborhood, and Sherman's Mill shows how a single river-powered works could feed, build, and clothe a rural Hill Country community for sixty years.

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Related people

  • · John Sherman
  • · Dovie Turk Talley

Themes & tags

Industry & InventionFrontier HistoryMill / Factory

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