Mills County is located in Texas, United States. Its county seat is Goldthwaite. A long-time resident of the county quipped that residing here is the closest a person could get to living in Mayberry. More recently, the Tonkawa occupied it, and numerous vestiges from their campsites remain across the county, including cooking middens. Thought to be the first White man to explore the area, Pedro Vial, visited in 1786 and 1789 while traveling between San Antonio and Santa Fe. Captain Henry S. Brown, believed to be the first white visitor, led a group to the area in 1825 to recover stolen stock.
left|thumb|"Welcome to Mills County, Meat Goat Capital of America" roadside sign
The Comanche regularly hunted in what became Mills County, since it was located along the southeastern edge of a large buffalo range. One source identifies the David Morris Sr., and Dick Jenkins families as the first pioneers in the area, who settled south of present-day Center City in 1852. Some of them settled in the area before Mills County formed and helped establish the early communities. The first law officer was W.W. Queen, who took his position in 1883 before Mills County formed; no reliable records document the existence of law enforcement officers before then.
Originally organized to protect settlers, vigilante "committees" formed with the tacit approval of law officials that degenerated into thieving, vindictive, and murderous groups that terrorized the area, killing an estimated 100 people during their reign in Central Texas. The bill provided directions for conducting an election to determine government leaders and the location of the county seat.
An earlier piece of legislation, House Bill No. 421, would have created a county with a similar boundary as Mills called Key, but the bill was defeated on February 21, 1881. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which (0.2%) are covered by water. Elevation varies from 1,200 to 1,750 ft above meal sea level. Major surface water features include the Colorado River, the Colorado-Brazos basin divide, the Pecan Bayou-Colorado confluence, Lake Merritt, and the headwaters of the Cowhouse Creek, Lampasas River, Bennet Creek, and Simms Creek. One part of the Cowhouse Range enters the county north of Star and leaves the county north of Priddy; another part of Cowhouse enters the county near Moline before taking a northwesterly exit into Comanche County.
The county has a variety of soils, including gray loams, sandy dark and stone clay, and alluvia in the bottom lands, and black wax on the prairies. Plentiful limestone, sand, and gravel are used for road construction. A member of the Cypress family, Ashe juniper is one of six species of the Juniperus genus that grow in Texas, but it is the only one that grows in the Hill Country, including Mills County, where it is concentrated in the southern region. It is the most plentiful native tree growing in the county and has existed in the area for thousands of years.
The county flower is the Texas plume standing cypress. Records show a high historical yearly rainfall of 26.75 inches. Yearly rainfall for 2023-2025 was above average: 28.85 inches in 2023; 34.7 inches in 2024; and 32.3 inches in 2025. Averaging 14 miles per hour, prevailing winds come from the south-southeast. The Köppen Climate Classification for Goldthwaite, the county seat, is "humid subtropical" (Cfa).
Highest monthly precipitation was 13.71 inches, recorded in October 2018.
One long-time county resident recalls the acute droughts of 2011 and the seven-year drought that occurred in the 1950s.
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Communities
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- Bethel - one of a trio of towns located near each other that also included North Bennett and Liveoak
- Jones Valley/Ratler - located west of Goldthwaite near the Colorado River; started growing around the 1900;
| align-fn = center
| title = County Population History
| align = right
| footnote = 1850–2010
2020 2024
2020 census
As of the 2020 census, the county had a population of 4,456. The median age was 50.1 years. 19.9% of residents were under the age of 18 and 29.8% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 99.1 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 95.7 males age 18 and over.
The racial makeup of the county was 82.0% White, 0.7% Black or African American, 0.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1% Asian, <0.1% Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander, 6.4% from some other race, and 10.4% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino residents of any race comprised 16.3% of the population.
There were 1,843 households in the county, of which 26.0% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 55.5% were married-couple households, 16.9% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 24.3% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 27.6% of all households were made up of individuals and 16.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.
|Population
|
|
|-
| Population Estimates, July 1, 2021, (V2021) || 4,480*
|*
|-
| Population estimates base, April 1, 2020, (V2021) || 4,456
|*
|-
| Population, percent change - April 1, 2020 (estimates base) to July 1, 2021, (V2021) || 0.5%*
|*
|-
| Population, Census, April 1, 2020 || 4,456
|
|-
| Population, Census, April 1, 2010 || 4,936
|
|-
|Age and Sex
|
|
|-
| Persons under 5 years, percent || 4.1%
|*
|-
| Persons under 18 years, percent || 21.0%
|*
|-
| Persons 65 years and over, percent || 27.6%
|*
|-
| Female persons, percent || 48.8%
|*
|-
|Race and Hispanic Origin
|
|
|-
| White alone, percent || 94.9%
|*
|-
| Black or African American alone, percent || 1.5%
|*a
|-
| American Indian and Alaska Native alone, percent || 1.2%
|*a
|-
| Asian alone, percent || 0.6%
|*a
|-
| Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander alone, percent || 0.1%
|*a
|-
| Two or More Races, percent || 1.7%
|*
|-
| Hispanic or Latino, percent || 19.5%
|*b
|-
| White alone, not Hispanic or Latino, percent || 77.2%
|*
|-
|Population Characteristics
|
|
|-
| Veterans, 2016-2020 || 345
|
|-
| Foreign born persons, percent, 2016-2020 || 6.9%
|
|-
|Housing
|
|
|-
| Housing units, July 1, 2021, (V2021) || 2,532
|
|-
| Owner-occupied housing unit rate, 2016-2020 || 88.2%
|
|-
| Median value of owner-occupied housing units, 2016-2020 || $141,700.00
|
|-
| Median selected monthly owner costs -with a mortgage, 2016-2020 || $908.00
|
|-
| Median selected monthly owner costs -without a mortgage, 2016-2020 || $438.00
|
|-
| Median gross rent, 2016-2020 || $649.00
|
|-
| Building permits, 2021 || NA
|
|-
|Families and Living Arrangements
|
|
|-
| Households, 2016-2020 || 1,752
|
|-
| Persons per household, 2016-2020 || 2.69
|
|-
| Living in same house 1 year ago, percent of persons age 1 year+, 2016-2020 || 89.4%
|
|-
| Language other than English spoken at home, percent of persons age 5 years+, 2016-2020 || 15.6%
|
|-
|Computer and Internet Use
|
|
|-
| Households with a computer, percent, 2016-2020 || 85.3%
|
|-
| Households with a broadband Internet subscription, percent, 2016-2020 || 76.5%
|
|-
|Education
|
|
|-
| High school graduate or higher, percent of persons age 25 years+, 2016-2020 || 82.8%
|
|-
| Bachelor's degree or higher, percent of persons age 25 years+, 2016-2020 || 21.1%
|
|-
|Health
|
|
|-
| With a disability, under age 65 years, percent, 2016-2020 || 11.3%
|
|-
| Persons without health insurance, under age 65 years, percent || 26.3%
|
|-
|Economy
|
|
|-
| In civilian labor force, total, percent of population age 16 years+, 2016-2020 || 52.3%
|
|-
| In civilian labor force, female, percent of population age 16 years+, 2016-2020 || 48.2%
|
|-
| Total accommodation and food services sales, 2017 ($1,000) || 3,639
|
|-
| Total health care and social assistance receipts/revenue, 2017 ($1,000) || 9,035
|
|-
| Total transportation and warehousing receipts/revenue, 2017 ($1,000) || 2,320
|
|-
| Total retail sales, 2017 ($1,000) || 62,223
|
|-
| Total retail sales per capita, 2017 || $12,639.00
|
|-
|Transportation
|
|
|-
| Mean travel time to work (minutes), workers age 16 years+, 2016-2020 || 17.4
|
|-
|Income and Poverty
|
|
|-
| Median household income (in 2020 dollars), 2016-2020 || $50,198.00
|
|-
| Per capita income in past 12 months (in 2020 dollars), 2016-2020 || $27,619.00
|
|-
| Persons in poverty, percent || 14.4%
|
|-
|Business
|
|
|-
| Total employer establishments, 2020 || 110
|
|-
| Total employment, 2020 || 942
|
|-
| Total annual payroll, 2020 ($1,000) || 35,790
|
|-
| Total employment, percent change, 2019-2020 || 13.1%
|
|-
| Total nonemployer establishments, 2019 || 549
|
|-
| All employer firms, Reference year 2017 || 91
|
|-
|Geography
|
|
|-
| Population per square mile, 2020 || 6.0
|
|-
| Population per square mile, 2010 || 6.6
|
|-
| Land area in square miles, 2020 || 748.23
|
|-
| Land area in square miles, 2010 || 748.26
|
|-
|
|
|
|-
|<small>* = Estimates are not comparable to other geographic levels due to methodology differences that may exist between different data sources.</small>
|
|
|-
|<small>a = Includes persons reporting only one race</small>
|
|
|-
|<small>b = Hispanics may be of any race, so also are included in applicable race categories</small>
|
|
|}
A 2022 report showed that home values in Mills County increased at a record rate compared to other counties in the state, rising by 98.7% since November 2017. An average home ballooned from $179,000 to over $355,000.
Historical racial and ethnic composition
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center;"
|+Mills County, Texas – Racial and ethnic composition<br><small></small>
!Race / Ethnicity <small>(NH = Non-Hispanic)</small>
!Pop 1980
!Pop 1990
!Pop 2000
!Pop 2010
!style="background-color: #ffffb3;" | Pop 2020
!% 1980
!% 1990
!% 2000
!% 2010
!style="background-color: #ffffb3;" |% 2020
|-
|White alone (NH)
|4,112
|4,029
|4,367
|4,024
|style='background: #ffffe6; |3,498
|91.85%
|88.92%
|84.78%
|81.52%
|style='background: #ffffe6; |78.50%
|-
|Black or African American alone (NH)
|5
|10
|61
|26
|style='background: #ffffe6; |25
|0.11%
|0.22%
|1.18%
|0.53%
|style='background: #ffffe6; |0.56%
|-
|Native American or Alaska Native alone (NH)
|9
|4
|13
|15
|style='background: #ffffe6; |10
|0.20%
|0.09%
|0.25%
|0.30%
|style='background: #ffffe6; |0.22%
|-
|Asian alone (NH)
|18
|1
|4
|10
|style='background: #ffffe6; |4
|0.40%
|0.02%
|0.08%
|0.20%
|style='background: #ffffe6; |0.09%
|-
|Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander alone (NH)
|x
|x
|0
|1
|style='background: #ffffe6; |0
|x
|x
|0.00%
|0.02%
|style='background: #ffffe6; |0.00%
|-
|Other race alone (NH)
|7
|3
|0
|0
|style='background: #ffffe6; |6
|0.16%
|0.07%
|0.00%
|0.00%
|style='background: #ffffe6; |0.13%
|-
|Mixed race or Multiracial (NH)
|x
|x
|35
|42
|style='background: #ffffe6; |185
|x
|x
|0.68%
|0.85%
|style='background: #ffffe6; |4.15%
|-
|Hispanic or Latino (any race)
|326
|484
|671
|818
|style='background: #ffffe6; |728
|7.28%
|10.68%
|13.03%
|16.57%
|style='background: #ffffe6; |16.34%
|-
|Total
|4,477
|4,531
|5,151
|4,936
|style='background: #ffffe6; |4,456
|100.00%
|100.00%
|100.00%
|100.00%
|style='background: #ffffe6; |100.00%
|}
Religion
Early settlers in the mid-1850s represented a range of faiths, led in numbers by the Methodists. Early settlers buried their dead near their homes in post oak slabs fashioned into coffins by the local carpenter.
|2020 Gross Domestic Product (GDP)
|$201.8 M
|-
|Commodity Totals - Sales, Measured in $
|$30,899,000
|-
|Crop Totals - Sales, Measured in $
|$2,439,000
!2018
!2019
!2020
!2021
!2021 state rank
!2019 % change
!2020 % change
!2021 % change
!2021 % state rank
|-
|$174,264,000
|$190,467,000
|$196,656,000
|$191,994,000
|228
|9.3%
|3.2%
| -2.4%
|176
|}
The county has historically sustained its economy with farming and ranching operations of varying sizes, with small businesses and recreational hunting providing additional income. By 1890, agriculture had established an economic base in the county. The county's deer population started growing after screwworm eradication programs were developed.
Farming and ranching
Statistics
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|+2017 Agricultural Value
!Commodity
!2017 Estimated Dollars
|-
|Beef
|19,187,200
|-
|Milk
|6,000,000
|-
|Sheep
|5,859,600
|-
|Hay
|5,000,000
|-
|Hunting
|4,925,000
|-
|Goats
|2,874,000
|}
Records show that the county has featured a large population of sheep and goats.
General history
Farming and ranching in the county have historically had about equal importance, and most agricultural operations had both. An industry related to livestock buying and selling was the trucking business, which started before local auctions. The first reported rail movement of mohair occurred on April 11, 1903, when a shipment of hair produced on the Elberta Ranch, located on South Bennett Creek, was sent to a processing mill in Lowell, Massachusetts. thumb|Cotton bales and cotton processing facility in Goldthwaite, ca. 1900|277x277pxBy 1864, settlers started growing and harvesting cotton—the first bale of cotton was picked by W.F. Brown and ginned in Comanche. As the land was turned over to cotton, the cattle business shifted into western Texas. But before large-scale poultry farms, local farmers sold their birds to distributors who shipped to markets in the east. Pecans are credited as one of the most lucrative crops in the early days of Mills County, fetching about four cents per pound. McCasland helped organize the Texas Pecan Growers Association, a pecan marketing cooperative that originally served Texas and Oklahoma growers.
- Castle Gap Wind Power LLC [partially in Lampasas County]
- Flat Top Wind I LLC
- Goldthwaite Wind Energy LLC
- Priddy Wind Project LLC
Government
Mills County's governing body is a commissioner's court operating under Dillon's Rule, consisting of a county judge and four commissioners.
|-
|Johnson, Wallace
|November 4, 1980
|Wallace elected to fill unexpired term of Jamie Ledbetter
|-
|Johnson, Wallace
|November 2, 1982
|
|-
|Johnson, Wallace
|November 4, 1986
|
|-
|Johnson, Wallace
|November 6, 1990
|
|-
|Wright, Randy
|November 8, 1994
|
|-
|Fulk, Kirkland
|November 2008
|General Election 2008
|-
|Fulk, Kirkland
|November 2010
|General Election 2010
|-
|Fulk, Kirkland
|November 2014
|General Election 2014
|-
|Smith, Ed
|May 22, 2018
|Runoff election
|-
|Johnson, Jett
|November 8, 2022
|Johnson won the May 24, 2022, Republican primary election and was sworn in as judge on August 26, 2022, a week after Judge Ed Smith resigned; Johnson was unopposed at the November 8, 2022 general election.
|}
{| class="wikitable sortable mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"
|+Mills County commissioners
|4
|March 8, 1994
|Mrs. C.H. Griffin was appointed to her husband's unexpired term following his death
|-
|Henry, Dale
|3
|November 5, 1996
|
|-
|Karnes, Joe
|3
|November 4, 2008
|
|-
|Harper, K.
|2
|November 2, 2010
|
|-
|Hall, R.
|3
|November 6, 2012
|
|-
|Wright, M.
|2
|November 6, 2018
|
|-
|Wright, Mike
|1
|November 6, 2020
|
|-
|Partin, Dale
|4
|November 8, 2022
|
|}
{| class="wikitable sortable mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"
|+Mills County attorneys
|November 2008
|-
|Hale, Gerald
|November 2016
|-
|Hale, Gerald
|November 2, 2010
|
|}
{| class="wikitable sortable mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"
|+Mills County sheriffs
|December 10, 1996
|The general election held on November 5, 1996 resulted in a tie between Glenn Carr and Darwin Odom; a vote to break the tie was held on December 10, 1996 that declared Odom the winner.
|-
|Storey, Doug
|December 2008
|
|-
|Hammonds, Clint
- Brookesmith Independent School District
- Comanche Independent School District
- Goldthwaite Consolidated Independent School District
- Hamilton Independent School District
- Lometa Independent School District
- Mullin Independent School District
- Priddy Independent School District
- Zephyr Independent School District
Former school districts:
- Star Independent School District - Merged into Goldthwaite ISD on July 1, 2014.
All of Mills County is in the Central Texas College District.
History of education
left|thumb|South Bennett School students, c. 1911
Early settlers taught their children the rudiments of reading, writing, and arithmetic at home when time allowed and within the limited boundaries of what they knew. State support of pre-Mills County schools was minimal in the early days: for instance, Williams Ranch received ninety-nine dollars in 1878.].
An abundance of deer, dove, hogs, turkey, and small game attracts recreational hunters from Texas and beyond. Fishing is also a popular activity in the county.
The annual Mills County Youth Fair & Stock Show, a collaboration of FFA, FHA, and 4-H chapters from across the county, has been in operation for over 80 years. Mills County Extension Agent Tom Guthrie observed, "I think this is probably the largest single event in the county that brings kids and adults from all over Mills County together. The building is owned by the city's Economic Development Corporation.
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In a groundbreaking political study published in 1964, Mills County was identified as being entrenched in liberalism with voters overwhelmingly supporting Democratic politicians, owing to the county's southern heritage of liberal populism and single-party politics.
A special buffalo bar-b-que organized by a number of local businessman in 1948 welcomed Lyndon B. Johnson, who arrived by helicopter and delivered a speech to a crowd of 2,500 at the baseball field near Lampasas Commission Company.
Media
left|thumb|Goldthwaite Eagle printing office, c. 1910
The first known newspaper, preceding the formation of Mills County, was the Rancho Rackett, which started around 1880 at Williams Ranch. starting on March 5, 1886, before ending publication in 1898 under Col. J.K. Street and merging with the Brownwood Record. Col. Street, after publishing The Goldthwaite Mountaineer for about three months, determined that the town could not sustain two newspapers. The same year a weekly called The Mills County Advocate commenced publication. merged with The Eagle in 1950. During the 1920s, a radio station owned by the Eagle Publishing Company, KGKB (frequency 1070 KC), broadcast from The Goldthwaite Eagle editorial offices before moving to Brownwood.
Transportation
Pioneers traveled through pre-Mills County by wagon pulled by ox, mule, or horse teams on primitive clearings through wooded areas or via crude trails that were often nearly impassable in wet conditions due to mud holes.
In 1901, before the Texas Highway Department was formed, county roads were maintained via a $3.00-per-person tax, known as the "road tax."|left]]
[[File:Santa Fe passenger depot, Goldthwaite, Texas, ca. 1920.jpg|left|thumb|Third passenger depot in Goldthwaite, Texas, c. 1915-1920 The primary impetus for the railroad to pass through the county was to reach San Angelo livestock markets.
The railroad created Goldthwaite and Mullin, similar to about twenty other townsites the railroad platted and auctioned along its path. By 1886, the railroad was the largest employer in the county, with thirty-six in its workforce. In 1905, the railroad boosted land ownership and farming in Mills County by offering employees the option to purchase land along its tracks through payroll deductions.
Major highways
- 20px U.S. Highway 84
- 25px U.S. Highway 183
- 20px State Highway 16
Before the postal service arrived in pre-Mills County in the late 1870s, mail was carried by travelers or cowboys from San Saba.
!Name
!Date(s)
|-
| Antelope Gap
|1892-1914
|-
| Big Valley
|1877-1906
|-
| Bowlder
|1880-1880
|-
| Caradan
|1899-1972
|-
| Center City
|1877-1920
|-
| Clements
|1899-1899
|-
| Coy
|1894-1903
|-
| Ebony
|1891-1945
|-
| Goldthwaite
|1886-
|-
| Gorey
|1882-1883
|-
| Hannaville
|1876-1882
|-
| Hydesport
|1884-1887
|-
| Minor
|1886-1892
|-
| Mullin
|1886-
|-
| Payne [Gap]
|1888-1916
|-
| Pompey
|1893-1893
|-
| Priddy
|1891-1895
|-
| Priddy
|1899-
|-
| Ratler
|1892-1929
|-
| Regency
|1884-1934
|-
| Ridge
|1909-1917
|-
| Scallorn
|1916-1932
|-
| Sneed
|1893-1900
|-
| Star
|1884-
|-
|Williams Ranch
|1877-1892
|}
Significant structures
thumb|Mills County Jail c. 1888 (taken before courthouse was built)|left
left|thumb|1890 Mills County Courthouse
Mills County's first courthouse, officially recognized on June 25, 1890, was built by John Cormack of Lampasas and paid by bonds amounting to $27,500. In 1915 during Jim Crow, a Confederate Memorial Monument was placed on the courthouse grounds in Goldthwaite, funded by public donations, the civic organization Self Culture Club, Jeff Davis Camp 117, and the United Confederate Veterans.
Called the "Goldthwaite Calaboose," the first jail in Mills County was ordered to be built in 1887 at a cost of $15.00. On October 12, 1887, county judge J.B. Head began to take bids for building a new jail. The limestone jail that still stands was built by Green and Nichols of Lampasas at a cost of $8,850; it was completed in April 1888, six months and nine days following ground breaking. In 1965, it received a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark designation and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1979.