San Marcos Milling Company - San Marcos, TX
Posted by: vhasler
N 29° 52.742 W 097° 56.304
14R E 602515 N 3305854
The oldest known industrial building in San Marcos is in significant disrepair.
Waymark Code: WMKZ35
Location: Texas, United States
Date Posted: 06/18/2014
Views: 2
From the NRHP application:
A 1910 newspaper reported construction of the Acme manufacturing Company, whose main product was the Thompson Sanitary Showcase, for the "keeping and sale of cigars. " The economy did not support the enterprise, however, and the company closed the next year. The building's next major period began in 1914, when the San Marcos Milling Company was organized by C. D. Lake and R. P. Lowman. Lake and his son-in-law installed the milling equipment and built the shed on the alley side to shelter grain wagons.
H. A. Nelson bought the property in 1922. He was the agriculture teacher at Southwest Texas Normal, and was deeply interested in starting the first Holstein clairy in the state. He acquired a herd in Wisconsin and rode with them in the boxcar all the way to Texas, milking them twice a day and giving away the milk at station stops. Nelson's dairy was successful. Milk was delivered twice a day, since refrigeration was limited to lowering the cans into a Springfield vat, by a cart drawn by a draft horse. The cows were milked in the basement and the milk processed and bottled on the first floor, where feed was also stored. For a while, both the mill and the dairy operated in the building. The herd was sold in 1931. "San Marcos Milling Co., Flour Corn & Hay" is still visible on the south wall and very faintly on the east.
The local Mexican-American community held dances in the north end during the 1930's. H. Canards, a cotton-seed breeder, used the building to store his product during the decade and the next. Since the 1950's, the warehouse has been used for long and short-term storage of various goods.
The warehouse is located on the east side of LBJ Drive between the two railroad tracks on a paved alley. The building is in significant disrepair, thus considering whether still sufficiently historical to justify the NRHP listing.
Street address: Nicola Alley San Marcos, TX USA
County / Borough / Parish: Hays County
Year listed: 1983
Historic (Areas of) Significance: Event
Periods of significance: 1925-1949, 1900-1924
Historic function: Agriculture/Subsistence, Commerce/Trade, Industry/Processing/Extraction
Current function: Commerce/Trade
Privately owned?: yes
Primary Web Site: [Web Link]
Season start / Season finish: Not listed
Hours of operation: Not listed
Secondary Website 1: Not listed
Secondary Website 2: Not listed
National Historic Landmark Link: Not listed
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