San Saba Grist Mill Waterwheel -- Mill Pond Park, San Saba TX - Working Water Wheels on Waymarking.com

In 1875, Guy Riesen damned Mill Creek to run a small hydraulic dam and irrigation system to bring water to his garden and the farms of a few nearby neighbors, and keep water troughs for horses at the courthouse full. Later reason sold his property John Brown, who used the dam and built a larger waterwheel to power his grist mill, which operated here for several decades.

See: (visit link)

Today the mill house and the historic waterwheel are preserved and on display in the old millrace near Mill Pond Dam.

A state historic marker on the Mill Pond House reads as follows:

"MILL POND HOUSE

Structure of great value to community in early days. Erected about 1875 by John H. ("Shorty") Brown (1817-96), one of founders of San Saba, in 1850s. This building housed machinery of gristmill (which ground corn meal, for bread) and a cotton gin. It was run by water power supplied by San Saba Springs. After mill was in disuse, city water system machinery was housed here. San Saba Garden Club restored the building after acquisition, 1956.

Recorded Texas historic Landmark - 1962"

In the wintertime, the water that usually fills the millrace is diverted and the wheel stopped so that it may be wrapped in Christmas lights and protected from damage in the event of a freeze. The water flows again in the spring.

Visit Instructions:
Please give the date of your visit and a brief description of your experience and any additional information you may have about the waterwheel, its current condition, etc. We would very much like at least one original photo from your visit, but it is not absolutely necessary.

Recent Visits/Logs:

Date Logged Log User Rating   01/09/2017 Benchmark Blasterz visited it 03/07/2015 WalksfarTX visited it

View all visits/logs